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ROGKK SHERMAN 

'''■"'" •' I" '"f^- '•>■ Halph Earle, now in the possession of Mr. Charles 

Atwood M'iiite of Xew Haven 



TWO CENTURIES OF 

NEW MILFORD 

CONNECTICUT 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

OF THE FOUNDING OF THE TOWN HELD JUNE 

15, 16, 17 AND 18, 1907, WITH A NUMBER 

OF HISTORICAL ARTICLES AND 

REMINISCENCES 



PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE HISTORICAL 
COMMITTEE BY VARIOUS CITIZENS OF NEW MILFORD AND 
BY THE EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT OF THE GRAFTON PRESS 




THE GRAFTON PRESS 

PUBLISHERS NEW YORK 



fUBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Cooles fteoeiva? 

NOV 8 ,lHif 

/Cenynarht Entrv 

No/ 8 / 

CLASS A XXc, 

COPY a 



(Xc„ No. 



Copyright, 1907 
By the GRAFTON PRESS 



CONTENTS 

PART I 
THE PAST AND PRESENT 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION. By Minot S. Giddings 3 

The first settlers of New Milford.. Zachariah Ferriss 

sued for trespass. John Reed and his career. Organizing 

a township. Organizing a church and calling a minister. 

The sturdy character of the Fathers. Noted men. Roger 

• Sherman. The splendid heritage of New Milford. 

GLIMPSES OF OLD NEW MILFORD HISTORY. By 

Charlotte Baldwin Bennett 8 

The site of New Milford two hundred years ago. The 
character and career of John Noble. The Boardman well. 
The first minister and the first meetinghouse. The union 
of town and church. " Seating and dignifying the meet- 
inghouse." People called to church by a drum. The 
tithing-man. The Sabbath-day house. Importance of the 
minister. The first Episcopal services. The Separatists. 
The Baptists. The Methodists. The Quakers. The dif- 
ferent church edifices. Church music. The schools. The 
singing schools. The early wars. A romance of the Revo- 
lution. Illustrious visitors. Social life after the war. 
Anecdote of Parson Taylor. Transportation. Main street 
nearly ' a century ago. Beautifying " The Green." The 
village doctor. Slavery. The " Underground Railroad." » 
The Civil War. The fire of 190;3. 

THE OWNERS OF NEW MILFORD. By Gen. 

Henry Stuart Turrill 22 

Proprietors to the amount of £1, 4s. Proprietors to the 
amount of lx?s. 

TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO. (Poem). By 

Sarah Sanford Black 24 

THE TWO ABIGAILS. By Gen. Henry Stuart 

Turrill 26 

Caleb Terrill settles in New Milford. Major Turrill. 
Marriage of Caleb Terrill and Abigail Bassett in Strat- 
ford. Caleb and Abigail visit Caleb's family at Milford. 
They mount the " Great River." Halt at' " the Co%'e." 
The home on Second Hill. The wonderful life of Abigail. 
The career of Abigail Uiford. 



vi Contents 



PAGE 



NEW MILFORD IN THE WARS. By Gen. Henry 

Stuart Turrill 31 

Military inactivity of the first fifty years. The first com- 
pany in kew Milford. y\rduousness of the train-band serv- 
ice. The Second Company. Tenth Company of Col. David 
Wooster's Third Regiment of Connecticut Levy. Other 
Companies. The Eleventh Company of the Fourth Regi- 
ment. The Tenth Company of the Second Regiment. 
Captain Joseph Canfield's Company. The good understand- 
ing with the Indians. The most prominent names in military 
affairs. The first company mentioned in connection with 
the Revolution. Its history indefinite. Captain Isaac Bost- 
wick's Company. The Nineteenth Regiment of Connecticut 
Line. Part played in the movements about New York. At 
Spuytcn Duyvil Creek. Tradition of a sergeant's guard 
under the command of David Buell. The capture of Fort 
Washington. New Milford men made prisoners of war. 
Confined in a barn. The Old Sugar House Prison. Prison 
hardships. Roger Blaisdell's pork barrel. The prison-ship 
Diitton. Arrival of the surviving prisoners in New Milford. 
Captain Bostwick's company about Philadelphia. The Dan- 
bury alarm. Captain Daniel Pendleton's company. The 
staj-at-homes. The leading families in the Revolution. 
Engagements in which New Milford men participated. New 
Milford soldiers refreshed by Deacon Gaylord. New Mil- 
ford men at Stony Point. The old age of David Buell. 
Reunions of old soldiers at the home of John Turrill. The 
adventures of Stephen Turrill. 

The Colonial Wars 45 

New Milford men in the Colonial Wars as given in the 
Connecticut Historical Society rolls. 

The Revolution 49 

Muster roll of a company said to have been raised in 
New Milford and to have formed a part of Colonel An- 
drew Ward's Regiment of Connecticut Militia. Roll of 
Captain Isaac Bostwick's company. Seventh Company, 
Sixth Regiment, of Connecticut Line." Men who crossed the 
Delaware with Captain Isaac Bostwick and were in the 
battles of Trenton and Princeton. Officers and men from 
New Milford who served in the Sixth Company of the 
Fourth Regiment of Connecticut I^ine. New Milford men 
who served in Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah Starr's Regiment, 
Connecticut Line. New Milford men who were in Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Samuel Canfield's Regiment of Connecticut 
Militia at West Point in 1781. New Milford men who 
served in Connecticut Regiment of Pioneers. New Milford 
men who served in Col. Moses Hazen's Regiment, Con- 
necticut Militia. New Milford men who served in the Fifth 
Troop, Shelden's Dragoons. New Milford men who served 
in Second Regiment, Connecticut I>ine. Company of forty 
volunteers. New .Milford men in Captain Charles Smith's 
company. General David Waterbury's State Regiment. 
Lieutenant John Phelps's Troop of Horse. New Milford 



Contents vii' 

I'AGE 

men in Sixth Company, Fourth Regiment, Continental Line. 
New Milford Men in Captain Kimberley's Company, Sec- 
ond Regiment, Continental Line. New Milford men who 
served under Lieutenant-Colonel Canfield in the Tryon in- 
vasion. New Milford members of the Society of the 
Cincinnati. 

The War of 1812 53 

The Mexican War 53 

The Civil War 54 

List of men from New Milford who had service in the 
Civil War. Recapitulation. 

The Spanish-American War. 66 

RECOLLECTIONS OF OLD NEW MILFORD HOMES. 

By Alice Merwin Bostwick 67 

The pre-Revolutionary houses. The great chimney. The 
good cooking of the early days. The hard work. The 
quilting bee. The shoemaker. The schoolmaster. Homeless 
wanderers. Indians from the Reservation. The calls of the 
parson. Visiting. Sunday. Fast Day. Thanksgiving. The 
long winters. Comparison of the life then and now. 

UNCHARTERED INSTITUTIONS. By Frederic 

Knapp 75 

The general " sitting-down " place. Levi Knapp's store. 
Its influence. Remarkable longevity of its habitues. 

TRAINING DAYS IN THE 'FORTIES, AS TOLD 

BY AN OLD BOY. By Frederic Knapp. ... 78 

Emerson's appreciation of boys. Training day the day 
of the year. Off for a good time. On the parade-ground. 
At the tavern. The evolutions of the train-band. The les- 
sons taught. 

REMARKABLE LONGEVITY OF NEW MILFORD 

CITIZENS. My Minot S. Giddings 81 

ACTIVITIES OF NEW MILFORD IN LATER YEARS 84 

Original extent of New Milford. Well watered and 
fertilized. Beauty of the landscape. Growth of the town. 
The production of milk and butter. Account of the to- 
bacco industry, by Vincent B. Sterling. The hatting in- 
dustry. The button industry. The furniture industry. The 
manufacture of machinery. Paper making. Grist miUs 
and saw mills. The iron industry. Cloth making. Oper- 
ations in wood and lumber. Quarrying and burning lime rock. 
The electric light plant. The New Milford Power Company. 



viii Contents 

PAGE 

Pottery makinp:. Account of the Bridgeport Wood Finishing 
Company by George B. Calhoun. Education in New Milford. 
The early schools. The Housatonic Institute. Adelphi In- 
stitute. The Center School. The first kindergarten. The 
Ingleside School. The New Milford churches. The Memo- 
rial Hall and Library. The New Milford newspapers. The 
New Milford Brass Band. Roger Sherman Hall. The 
banks. The Agricultural Society. The water supply. The 
fire department. The fires of New Milford. The fire of 
1902. Recovering from the fire of 1903. Recent growth 
and improvements. 

THE STORY OF NEW MILFORD TOLD IN 
CHRONOLOGICAL EPITOME. By Russell B. 
Noble and Minot S. Giddings 98 

RECORD OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES OF ROGER 

SHERMAN. By Hon. Ebenezer J. Hill . .115 



PART II 
THE BI-CENTENNIAL EXERCISES 
INCEPTION AND ORGANIZATION. 

Call for a meeting in the New Milford Gazette. The meet- 
ing. Preamble and resolution adopted. Further action of 
the meeting. Meeting of the General Committee of Arrange- 
ments on July 6, 1906. Action of this meeting. Officers. 
Sub-committees. Duties of sub-committees. Assessments. 
Other sub-committees. Names of the officers and members 
of the General Committee of Arrangements. The members 
of the special committees. The work accomplished by the 
various committees. The Finance Committee. The Execu- 
tive Committee. The Committee on Exercises. The appoint- 
ment of district committees. Names of the members of the 
district committees. The Committee on Refreshments. 
The Committee on Decorations. The Committee on Publicity. 
The Committee of Invitation, Reception and Entertainment. 
The Committee on Religious Observances. The Committee 
of Public Safety. The Historical Committee. The Loan 
Exhibit Committee. The Committee on Colonial Features. 
The Committee on Colonial Reception. The Committee on 
Vocal Music. Rest houses. Committee of Public Health 
and Comfort. Marshal's aides. Faithfulness and efficiency 
of the committees. 

THE OPENING EXERCISES 136 

The weather. Beauty of the decorations on " The Green." 
The Doxology rendered by the chimes of all Saints'. The 
Invocation. Address of welcome by Charles N. Hall. The 
flag-raising. 



IX 

PAGE 

140 



Contents 
THE LOAN EXHIBITION 

Richness of the collection. Source of joy to the aged and 
a means of instruction for the young. An exemplification 
of public spirit. Possibility of a permanent museum. A 
complete list of the exhibits. 

THE OLD HOME GATHERING 170 

Address of welcome by W. Frank Kinney. The exercises. 
Poem by Mary Murdoch Mason. Cablegram from Frank 
Hine. Letter from Henry S. Mygatt. 

OUR FOREFATHERS. (Poem.) By Charles N. Hall 175 



THE SUNDAY EXERCISES 



176 



Preaching appropriate to the occasion. Sermon of Rev. 
Frank A. Johnson in the First Congregational Church. 
H_vmn by Charlotte Baldwin Bennett. Sermon by Rev. 
Samuel Hart, D. D., in St. John's Episcopal Church. Ser- 
mon by Rev. S. D. Woods in the Baptist Church. Sermon 
by Rev. H. K. Smith in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Sermon by Rev. Orville Van Keuren in the Gaylordsville 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Sermon by Rev. E. Z. Ellis in 
the Advent Christian Church. Sermon by Father Ryan in 
the Catholic Church. The Union meeting. Address by Rev. 
Frederick A. Wright of New York. The evening services. 
The services at All Saints' Memorial Church. Sermon by 
Rev. Charles J. Ryder, D. D., of New York in the First 
Conarresational Church. Sermon by Rev. George S. Bennitt, 
D. b., "^in St. John's Church. 



THE AUTOMOBILE PARADE 



A bold experiment. Unqualified success. The owners of 
the cars. The prize winners. The decorations of the various 
cars. 



THE HISTORICAL MEETING 



227 



228 



Greeting by Frederic M. Williams. Address by Dr. Sam- 
uel Hart. Introduction of Chief Justice Baldwin by Mr. 
Williams. Address on " Roger Sherman " by Chief Justice 
Baldwin. Introduction of Hon. Daniel Davenport. Mr. 
Davenport's address. 



THE COLONIAL RECEPTION 275 

The arrival of Governor Woodruff. The dinner at Ingle- 
side School. Arrival of the gubernatorial party at Roger 
Sherman Hall. List of persons who assisted in receiving. 
The ordering of the reception. Brilliancy of the spectacle. 
The dancing. Governor Woodruff entertained by various 
organizations. 



X Contents 

PAGE 

GOVERNOR'S DAY S77 

Temporary population of New Mllford. The weather. 
The Civic and Military Parade. Formation of Parade. 
Its distinguishing and memorable features. The school 
floats. The Colonial floats. The industrial floats. The re- 
view. The last formal exercises on " The Green." Intro- 
duction of Rev. Timothy J. I.ee by Charles M. Beach. Re- 
marks of Mr. Lee. Introduction of Governor Woodrufl". 
Address of Governor Woodrufl". Presentation of Rev. Wat- 
son I.. Phillips, D. D. Eulogy of the Foot Guard by Dr. 
Phillips. Presentation of Hon. E. J. Hill. Address of 
Congressman Hill. Remarks by Rev. Marmaduke Hare. 
Concluding remarks by Mr. Beach. The fireworks. 

THE AFTERMATH 295 

Retrospect in the New Milford Gazette. Letter from 
Governor Woodruff to Charles M. Beach. Letter from 
J. Moss Ives to H. Le Roy Randall. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Roger Sherman; reproduced from a painting . Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Minot S. Giddings; Dr. George H. Wright; the Knapp 

Residence 4 

Elijah Boardman 6 

Congregational Church, with Residences of Rev. Nathaniel 

Taylor and Nathaniel Taylor, Jr 14 

Jehiel Williams, M. D 18 

Sally Northrop ; David Curtis Sanf ord ; Henry Seymour 

Sanford; William Dimon Black 20 

The First Well in the Town of New Milford .... 24 

Falls Bridge and the Gorge 28" 

Henry Stuart Turrill 44'^ 

Charles D. Blinn 54 v 

Levi Sydney Knapp 74 

Alanson N. Canfield 76 

William J. Starr 80- 

New Milford Hat Company 84 

Honorable Isaac Baldwin Bristol 86 

United Bank Building 88 

Manufacturing Plant of the Bridgeport Wood Finishing Com- 
pany 90 

Views of Ingleside School. Post-graduate Department; Ingle- 
side Bungalow; Foundation House 92 

Andrew B. Mygatt 94 

New Milford after the Fire 96 

Captain Garry Brooks 102 

Rev. Noah Porter, D. D., LL. D 110 

John Prime Treadwell 112 

Henry S. Mygatt 120 

Seymour S. Green; Stephen C. Beach; Andrew G. Barnes; 

Francis E. Baldwin 124 

H. Leroy Randall; W. F. Kinney; Frederick E. Starr; 

Charles P. Bentlev 128 



xii Illustrations 

FACING PAGE 

Edwin G. Clemence; Miss Adaline L. Buck; Charles J. Ryder, 

D. D.; Henry Donnelly 132 

Charles N. Hall; Charles M. Bench 136 

Roger Sherman Hall and Church Street 170 

Some New Milford Churches. Methodist Episcopal; Baptist, 

Northville; Methodist. Gaylordsville ; Saint Francis 

Xavier 176 

Saint John's Church 182 

Advent Christian Church 196 

New Milford Pastors. Rev. Frank B. Draper; Rev. Timothy 

J. Lee; Rev. Harris K. Smith; Rev. Marmaduke Hare; 

Rev. Frank A. Johnson; Rev. John F. Plumb; Rev. 

Father John J. Burke; Rev. Solomon D. Woods; Rev. 

Stephen Heacock 202 

Memorial Building and Public Library; All Saints' Memorial 

Church 208 

Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin 232 

Egbert Marsh; Hon. Daniel Davenport 254 

Governor Woodruff, Staff and Guard, in front of Roger 

Sherman Hall 276 

Samuel R. Hill; Samuel Randolph Hill, Jr 278 

Main Street from the North 280 

Main Street from the South 282 

Honorable Rollin S. Woodruff 286 



PART I 
THE PAST AND PRESENT 



INTRODUCTION 

Two hundred years ago, in the summer of 1707, the pioneer 
John Noble, with his httle daughter, made his way through 
the wilderness from Westfield, Mass., and set up his rude cabin 
in the beautiful valley of Weantinock, on the west side of 
" Stratford " River, under the shadow of Fort Hill, near neigh- 
bor to the Indians, with whom he became very friendly. He 
trusted their friendship so much that he left his daughter in 
their care while he went on a journey, following the Indian 
trail through the wilderness to Albany, to pilot some gentlemen ; 
and, on his return, he found her well taken care of. 

He subsequently built a log house on the east side of the 
river on land now occupied by the residence of Levi P. Gid- 
dings. 

The next year his son, John Noble, Jr., came and made a 
settlement, and, before 1712, twelve families had settled here 
on sites purchased by the Milford Company from the Indians, 
the purchases having been ratified by the Colonial Legislature ; 
but, strange to say, only two of the twelve, Samuel Prindle and 
Isaiah Bartlett, came from Milford town. 

Some thirty years previous, Henry Tomlinson and others of 
Stratford, Conn., had purchased from the Indians who as- 
sumed to be owners, this tract of land, and Mr. John Read, 
joint owner, representing them, came and laid claim to it. 

It is said that Zachariah Ferriss, a brother-in-law of Mr. 
Read, came here in 1706, before any other white man, and 
plowed a piece of land where Roger Sherman Hall now stands, 
in order to claim title to the land under the deed of the Strat- 
ford Company. 

He was sued for trespass by the Milford Company, but won 
his suit, Mr. John Read being his counsel. 

Mr. Read built a house on or near the site of the Knapp 
residence, in which he lived, meanwhile prosecuting his claim 



4) The Past and Present 

to the title of the land. He obtained a verdict in his favor 
fifteen times, but the sixteenth time the General Court ruled 
against him; and he, being discouraged, soon after removed 
to Lonetown, now Redding, named for him. 

The Colonial Government soon set off to him a large tract 
of land in what is now the town of Kent, of which the Scagh- 
ticoke Indians long after held possession, Mr. Read having 
exchanged it for territory in the town of Redding. 

Mr, John Read was a notable man. He was well educated 
in theology and in the law, being a graduate of Harvard Col- 
lege, and is said to have preached the first sermon in this place. 
He was under thirty years of age when he came here. He mar- 
ried a daughter of Major John Talcott, was held in high es- 
teem by the Governor of the Colony, and was appointed by him 
to many important positions. He held the office of Queen's 
Counsel under the reign of Queen Anne. His son, widely known 
as Colonel John Read, was for many jears very prominent in 
the Colony. 

Other settlers came through the wilderness and erected their 
rude houses. The next thing these pioneers and pilgrims did 
was to petition the Assembly for the power and privileges of 
a township, which were granted, conferring authority relating 
to ecclesiastical matters. They then formed themselves into a 
church, and called a minister to settle over them. 

" What sought they thus afar? 
Bright jewels of the niine? 
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war? 
They sought a Faith's pure shrine. 

" Ay, call it holy ground. 

The soil where first they trod. 
They left unstained what there they found. 

Freedom to worship God." 

They called Mr. Daniel Boardman to be their minister, and 
built the meeting-house and the schoolhouse, for these two insti- 
tutions went hand in hand throughout New England and 
formed the characters of their descendants. 

These early settlers of our town were busy men. They had 



i 





MINOT S. GIDDTXGS 
Chairman Historical Coniniittce 



DR. GEORGE H. WRIGHT 

Chairman Loan Committee 




THE KN'APP RESH)EXCE 



Introduction 5 

hard work to perform in those early days to subdue the wilder- 
ness, to plant and cultivate the com and the rye for their 
sustenance, to raise the flax and the wool which the women- 
folk made into garments. Mechanics, artificers, and wheel- 
wrights were at a premium. The village blacksmith was a most 
important and necessary person, and concessions were made 
and land given to induce blacksmiths to settle in the community. 

Small manufactories were soon established on every consid- 
erable stream. The grist mill, the saw mill, the flax mill — these 
were important institutions. The spinning wheel was in every 
house, and the loom was set up in every neighborhood. It 
remained for our day to develop the immense manufactories 
situated near the large marts. Those were days that developed 
brawn and brain — two hundred years ago. 

What were the deeds our fathers performed in those stren- 
uous times ? They have told us but little ; a few things were 
recorded in the town books of record. They were too busy 
making history to expend much time in writing it. They 
cleared and fenced the fields ; they built the town and the 
' village. 

They did not pretend to great academic learning, but they 
had good common sense which served them well. They went 
out to drive off^ the French and Indians who harried their 
borders in their peculiar savage way. They rallied to defend 
their liberties in the great War of the Revolution, for which 
they poured out their blood and treasure, more than two hun- 
dred and twelve from the town serving in that war. 

Referring to the founders of this country, a noted orator 
said, " How little did these rulers of the Old World — James 
the First seeking to strangle the liberties of England, or Rich- 
elieu laying his plans to build up a kingly despotism — realize 
that a little group of English yeomen were founding a colony 
in a Western wilderness, from whose vigorous loins would spring 
a mighty nation to dominate the world when the Stuart and 
the Bourbon were alike forgotten ! " 

Of these Puritans and their English brethren. King James 
had scornfully said, " I will make them conform, or I will 



6 The Past and Present 

harry them out of the land." He did indeed drive these Pilgrim 
Fathers from his land; but within five generations thereafter 
their descendants had harried the English Government from 
these shores, and, within another five generations, had compelled 
not only England, but the whole world as well, to conform to 
America's principles of free government, to America's ideas, 
to America's commercial predominance. 

Those early days of New Milford produced some noted 
men, whose lives and example did much to mould the characters 
of the inhabitants. The names of Boardman, Taylor, Noble, 
Gaylord, Bostwick, Canfield, Baldwin, Griswold, Sherman, San- 
ford, Mygatt, Marsh, Hinc, Turrill, and others of the same 
stamp will be recalled as those of leaders in the affairs of the 
town and the church. 

The greatest and the most celebrated man that ever hon- 
ored the town with his citizenship was Roger Sherman. He 
came from Newton, Mass., in 1743, at the age of twenty-two 
years, and was active and influential in aff^airs of the town and 
church ; but the town could not retain him long. Of him 
Edward Everett Hale said : " They say dear Roger Sherman 
was a shoemaker. I do not know, but I do know that every 
central suggestion in the American Constitution, the wisest 
work of men's hands, that was struck oJfF in so short a time, is 
the suggestion of this shoemaker, Roger Sherman." 

It was said that Roger Sherman was placed on every im- 
portant committee while in Congress, and that no law, or part 
of a law, that he favored failed to be enacted. John Adams 
said that Chief Justice Ellsworth told him that he made Roger 
Sherman his model in youth. 

The Fathers of New Milford wrought wisely and well in 
establishing the religious and civic institutions. They built 
well the town and wide the streets, and their descendants have 
enlarged and improved so much that this little village has the 
name far and wide of being one of the most beautiful spots 
in New England. 

Remembering these hardy pioneers, their devotion to right- 
eousness, their perseverance amid discouragements, and their 



I 



Introduction 7 

many virtues, we all — the loyal sons and daughters of New 
Milford, those who went forth to make homes for themselves 
elsewhere and have now returned hither, and the strangers from 
foreign shores who have settled here — join together this beau- 
tiful month of June to celebrate the founding of the town, two 
hundred years ago. 

MiNOT S. GiDDINGS. 



GLIMPSES OF OLD NEW MILFORD HISTORY 

Contributed by Charlotte Baldwin Bennett 

Few contrasts could be more striking than our beautiful vil- 
lage of to-day against the background of the place John 
Noble, the first white settler, found two hundred years ago. 
An unbroken wilderness met his eye, save for the Indian settle- 
ment across the river on Fort Hill, where the smoke, curling 
from many wigwams, marked the homes of over two hundred 
warriors with their families. 

Even four years later, when the white man's plantation in- 
cluded twelve settlers and about seventy souls, we find it a 
rather dismal picture. An irregular cart path, winding in and 
out among stumps of newly cut trees, formed the Main Street. 
A narrow road led from the north end of this street to the 
river, then followed the river bank a mile north to the rapids, 
the general crossing place. The first bridge over the Housa- 
tonic was built at New Milford, but not until 1737. 

John Noble's house, the first in the town, stood on the site 
of Mr. Levi P. Giddings' present residence. At the time it 
was built, it was the last house this side of Albany, and four- 
teen miles from any white man's dwelling. The original 
" Town Plot " was on Aspetuck Hill, our forefathers evidently 
being impressed even then with the beauty and healthfulness 
of the hilltops. What is now Park Lane was also in the first 
century of the town a more populous neighborhood than the 
one in our village. But the valley offered more shelter and 
protection in the rigorous winters, and doubtless the toilsome 
life of the pioneer made the hill-climbing a heavy burden; so 
the valley triumphed at last, and claimed the larger population 

In 1712 the " New Milford Plantation " became a town, thr 
inhabitants having petitioned the General Court to that end 
In this year, also, " Mr. Daniel Bordman was called to preach 

8 



Glimpses of Old New Milfobd History 9 

ye gospel at New Milford." Previous to this, except for occa- 
sional preaching here, the people had been obliged to go to 
Woodbury or Derby for church services. John Noble became 
a member of the Woodbury Church in these first years. When 
we recall what was meant by that long journey of twenty-eight 
miles through the wilderness, in which the narrow Indian trail 
was the only path, we bow in reverence before the faith and 
sturdy manhood that laid a sure foundation for the blessings 
that have come down to us. John Noble was a tower of 
strength to the little community during his brief life here. 

He was evidently a modest man, who did not exalt his own 
deeds ; but we may read between the lines a story of noble 
service and heroic courage. He fortified his house as a refuge 
for the people in times of danger from hostile Indians. He 
was the first town clerk elected by the town, and a surveyor of 
lands. When he died, in 1714, there must have been sincere 
mourning in the httle community. He was the first adult 
person to be buried in the little graveyard. All honor to John 
Noble, our first citizen ! 

The first sermon preached here was by John Read, who had 
studied for the ministry, and who resided here from 1708 to 
1711. His house, where Ingleside School now stands, was 
used, for several years after he left, as a meeting-house. 

In 1713 the town voted to pay the expense of a minister; 
also to lay out a pastor's lot, and to dig and stone up a well 
for Mr. Boardman, if he became a settled minister. This re- 
calls one of the first necessities of the new community — pure 
water. Strangely enough, this well is the only vestige now 
remaining of that earliest settlement. It is on the lawn of 
Mrs. W. D. Black's residence. 

The town, meantime, allowed five shillings and sixpence a 
week for the minister's board. His salary was to be paid 
one-third in grain and two-thirds in labor, linen, or pork. This 
gives a pitiful glimpse of the slender resources of the people, 
but we remember with pride that there is no record of the 
church here ever receiving aid from any outside source. In 
1716 the church was organized, and, on November 21 of that 



10 The Past and Present 

year Mr. lioardman was ordained. The first meeting-house 
was commenced in 1718, but was not open for worship till 
1720, and was then quite unfinished, the floor not being laid 
till 1723. It stood on the highway on Aspetuck Hill, a httle 
north of the Knapp house. 

Until 1745 the Congregational Church was the only one in 
the town, and every person was taxed for its support. 

There was no Ecclesiastical Society till after 1750. The 
town was the Society, and provided for all expenses of public 
worship. It has been remarked of these early New England 
towns that " one might almost say that the church had select- 
men and the town had deacons, so closely were the two united." 
From 1750 to 1790 those who aided in supporting other 
churches were relieved of the tax for the support of this one, 
and, from 1800, only members of this society were taxed for its 
benefit. The renting of pews began in 1854. 

Before this, committees had " dignified the meeting-house." 
All persons of the age of fifty-six years and upwards were 
assigned to the first rank of seats, and all others were 
seated " according to the taxes they have paid toward build- 
ing said Meeting-House." We are told that in the early days 
of the colony the " dignifying the meeting-house," that is, the 
seating people by certain grades of wealth, was unknown. It 
became common only after slavery was an established insti- 
tution. 

The people were for many years called to church by the 
beat of the drum. An appropriation was made for this when 
the church was organized, and, annually, the town appointed 
a person to beat the drum, and voted to pay him for the same. 

This method may have been employed to remind the people 
that they belonged to the church mihtant. Certain it is, that 
the marching with measured tread to the martial sound was a 
fitting prelude to the grim and lengthy service awaiting them. 

I'he meeting-houses were not heated till 1823, when two box 
stoves were put in the second meeting-house. No wonder our 
forbears developed strong and decided traits of character 
under such Spartan training! 



Glimpses of Old New Milford History 11 

The tithing man was an important factor in church work. 
As early as 1729 it was voted in town meeting " that James 
Hine have oversight of the female sex during exercises on 
the Sabbath." We are left in painful doubt as to whether the 
" female sex " needed more oversight than the men. But a later 
vote recorded relieves our minds, for " two men were appointed 
to oversee the youth (males), and one for the female sex," 
during service. So we may conclude our foremothers needed 
only half as much watching as the fathers and sons. 

The law requiring the appointment of tithing men was 
passed in 1721. Earlier, it was customary in New England to 
appoint an officer to keep people from sleeping during the 
delivery of the sermon. 

In 1745 the town voted that " any farmers, inhabitants, have 
leave to build a small house to repair to on the Sabbath Day, 
on the common land, provided the public is not damnified 
thereby." This building was " north of the meeting-house on 
the side of the hill." After the second church was built, in 
1754, on " The Green," opposite the spot now occupied by 
Mrs. Henry Bostwick's residence, the Sabbath Day house was 
built on the site of Mr. James Orton's present home on Bridge 
Street. These " Sabba' Day houses," as they were called, were 
an important institution in the Sunday life of those old 
days. 

Here those living at a distance stored loads of wood and 
barrels of cider, refilled their foot stoves and rested between 
services. 

This little intermission, in which the settlers took breath 
after the two hours' sermon of the morning, and gained 
strength for the ninthlies and tenthlies of the afternoon, is a 
pleasant picture in the midst of the rigorous Sabbath. We 
like to think there was a little relaxation for the housewives 
in exchanging their doughnuts and Indian bread, and compar- 
ing receipts for the same, and, perhaps, indulging in a little 
week-day gossip, when James Hine was not at hand to " over- 
see." 

The most notable figure in the town was always the minister. 



12 The Past and Peesent 

He was the person, the " parson." Even the " divinity that 
doth liedge a king " commands hardly more reverence than 
that which was paid to the early New England minister. The 
very children were taught to make obeisance to him as he 
passed along the street. An early rule of the New England 
churches read as follows : " If any person or persons shall 
be guilty of speaking against the minister, in any shape, form 
or manner, or of speaking against his preaching, said person 
or persons shall be punished by fine, whipping or banish- 
ment, or cutting off of ears." 

Mr. Orcutt, in his " History of New Milford," says that 
Episcopal Church services were held here as early as 1742, 
perhaps earlier. Rev. Mr. Beach of Newtown conducting occa- 
sional meetings. The first resident Episcopal clergyman was 
Rev. Solomon Palmer, who came in 1754. The second Epis- 
copal church stood on the lower end of " The Green." It was 
consecrated in 1793, though begun many years before. 

The Separatists, or Strict Congregationalists, as they were 
called, built a house of worship in 1761, near the entrance to 
the present cemetery. They disbanded in 1812. The Baptists 
had a small church in " The Neck," now Bridgewater, in 1788, 
but soon moved away. The Baptist Church in Northville was 
formed in 1814. In 1825 the Methodist Church was estab- 
lished at Gaylordsville. The Methodist Church in this village 
was erected in 1849. 

The Quakers were early in the field, their first meeting-house 
in the south part of the town being built about 1742. 

The present Congregational Church edifice was built in 1833. 
In 1883 the beautiful new St. John's Episcopal Church, which 
is one of the chief ornaments of our Main Street, was com- 
pleted. All Saints' Memorial Episcopal Church was organ- 
ized in 1880. The beautiful church building was erected later 
on Aspctuck Hill, in memory of the late Judge David C. San- 
ford, by his wife. It was consecrated in 1888. The Church 
of St. Francis Xavier, Roman Cathohc, was built about 1860, 
and has a large and flourishing congregation. The most re- 
cent addition to our list of churches is the Advent Church, 



Glimpses of Old New Milford History 13 

which has done an excellent work already in our community. 
It was built in 1901. 

From very ancient times it seems to have been ordained that 
harmony and discord should go hand in hand in the churches, 
for no subject was more prolific of disturbance than the sing- 
ing. In the first days of New Milford the deacons led the 
singing, standing in front of the pulpit. There seems to have 
been a difference of opinion as to any change, for, in 1739, 
a meeting was held " to consider about the singing of God's 
praises in the congregation," and it was voted " that we should 
' half ' the time ; that is, to sing one day all the old way, and 
the next Sabbath all the new way, for the space of one year, 
and then have a reconsideration of the matter." Samuel Bost- 
wick was chosen chorister for the new way, and " Nathan Bots- 
ford second, in case of the other's absence." 

The difference continued, for the following year a meeting 
was called to " agree about the singing in church." It was 
put to vote that all in favor of singing all together the old 
way should go to the east end of the meeting-house, and those 
for the new way to the west end. On being counted, thirty 
favored the new way, against sixteen for the old. They peace- 
ably voted that the majority should rule. 

Eight years later a new trouble arose as to using Dr. Watts' 
version of the Psalms. It was voted " that Dr. Watts' version 
be sung the last singing in the afternoon on the Sabbath and 
at lectures." The next year it was voted to sing from the old 
version in the morning, and from Dr. Watts' version in the 
afternoon, for one year, and then altogether from Dr. Watts. 
Who could imagine Dr. Watts as a dangerous innovation ! 

Up to this time no reference is found here to any musical 
instrument but the pitch pipe. The bass viol and the rest of 
the stringed instruments must have come into use in the church 
services soon after. How the old fugue tunes, with the parts 
chasing each other all the way through, must have shaken the 
rafters and waked all the sleepers, without the help of the 
tithing 



man 



This town very early began to uphold morality and order. 



14 The Past and Present 

In that first century it fined certain persons " for bringing into 
the town unwholesome inhabitants." 

The care with which the town guarded its temporal interest*s 
is shown by an early vote, " that a black bonnet, a red woman's 
cloak, and a worsted gown belonging to Hannah Beeman, de- 
ceased, be kept for her daughter till she is of age; if she die 
under age, the town to have them." 

The cause of education went hand in hand with that of 
religion in those early days. When there were but twenty-five 
families in the town, a public school was ordered. In town 
meeting, September, 1721, it was voted that a school be main- 
tained for four months, the town to bear half the charge. The 
next year a committee was appointed to raise money to hire a 
schoolmaster three months in winter, and a schoolmistress three 
months in summer. One of these early schoolmistresses was 
the little daughter of John Noble, who had come hither with 
him alone through the wilderness. Deacon Sherman Board- 
man, son of the Rev. Daniel, mentions going to school to her, 
and says she was an excellent teacher. The " little red school- 
house " was preceded by the log schoolhouse, which was soon 
a frequent landmark through the town. The town was often 
divided into new districts. In 1782 there were twenty-one 
school districts. In 1787 a new building for townhouse and 
schoolhouse together was erected at the north end of the Main 
Street. 

The singing schools were a pleasant feature of early days, 
and, in a time of few pleasures, afforded a harmless enjoyment. 
They were usually held in the schoolhouses, but sometimes at 
a dwelling in the neighborhood. In 1792 Mr. Cyrene Stilson 
is recorded as beginning a singing school at a private house. 
There are to-day treasured in many of our homes, brass can- 
dlesticks that were kept bright by our grandmothers to carry 
to the schoolhouse for the evening singing school. They sug- 
gest many bits of romance. When the boys were privileged to 
walk home with the girls, they carried the candlesticks, we 
hope, and they doubtless lingered on the broad doorstep some- 
times, in spite of zero weather. 



Glimpses of Old New Milford History 15 

One of the brightest spots in New Milford history is the 
patriotism the town has shown through all its generations. 
This sentiment seems to have been a perennial spring in the 
hearts of the inhabitants, ready to burst out into action when- 
ever a crisis arose. 

The long list of soldiers in the wars is proof of this. The 
War of the Revolution called out a host of brave men from 
New Milford. Not less patriotic was the minister, Rev. Na- 
thaniel Taylor. He had long before served as chaplain in the 
French and Indian War, and, in 1779, he remitted his entire 
salary to alleviate the suffering caused by the war. It is in- 
spiring to read that in this same year the county treasurer at 
Litchfield received the sum of ninety-four pounds sixteen shil- 
lings, by the hand of Col. Samuel Canfield — money contributed 
by the first Ecclesiastical Society of New Milford, for the relief 
of the distressed inhabitants of the towns of New Haven, 
Fairfield, and Norwalk. 

The actual conflict came no nearer than Danbury. A large 
number of our citizens participated in that battle. The send- 
ing out of troops, and the mourning in many households for 
those who did not return, must have kept the war very near 
to the hearts of all the inhabitants of the town. Further- 
more, the presence of three brigades (nearly 5000 men) in 
camp on Second Hill, for nearly a month in the autumn of 
1778, brought the war atmosphere almost to their very doors. 

Once during the war Lafayette and Rochambeau were enter- 
tained over night here ; Rochambeau, at the home of Rev. Na 
thaniel Taylor, north of the present Congregational Church, 
and Lafayette, at the house of the son of Rev. Nathaniel, 
Nathaniel, Jr., south of the church. 

There was a pretty romance of the war here also. Major 
Jones of Virginia, in charge of the commissary stores kept 
here the summer after the burning of Danbury, fell in love 
with pretty Tamar Taylor, the minister's daughter. We have 
the story from Mrs. Helen Carr, the granddaughter of Tamar 
Taj'lor, as she heard it from the lips of her grandmother. The 
Major's affection seems to have been returned, but her parents 



16 The Past and Present 

frowned upon the affair for the sole reason that they could 
never let their daughter go to that far country — Virginia. The 
wooer was said to be " a very fine man, who won golden opin- 
ions from everyone," the question of distance being the only 
obstacle to parental consent. 

Four years later Major Jones wrote to Daniel Everett of 
New Milford, his sweetheart's brother-in-law and his near 
friend, from Yorktown, during the siege, shortly before the 
surrender of Cornwallis. Even that exciting and arduous time 
seems not to have made him forget the young lady, for he 
says : " She is never out of my mind, though it seems Fortune 
has not been so favorable as to allot us to the possession of 
each other in this short transitory life, or if she has, parents 
seem to clash. ... I wish I had time to write you fully 
on a subject that floats in my head, the last when I go to bed 
and the first when I awake, but must omit it till a future 
opportunity." 

After the war was over and the country had become settled. 
Major Jones, with his body servant, journeyed on horseback 
from his Virginia home to New Milford; but the journey was 
in vain, and he went sorrowfully home alone. Pretty Temmie 
Taylor seems not to have been inconsolable, for she was hap- 
pily married later to the Hon. Nicholas Masters of this place. 
Mrs. Carr still cherishes the ring and locket given her grand- 
mother by the earlier lover ; and when we touched the ancient 
tokens, the long years fell away, and we, too, seemed to live in 
the love story of olden time. 

New Milford was on one of the regular post roads from 
Philadelphia to Boston, and, If the old highways could speak, 
they might tell many stories of distinguished men who have 
travelled over them. We read in the letters of John Adams of 
his going through this town on his way to the Congress in 
Philadelphia. During the war there was frequent passing 
through the place of both British and Continental troops. 

W^hcn the war was over there was still further expression of 
the patriotic sentiments of the people in a vote " that none 
of those persons who have voluntarily gone over and joined 



Glimpses of Old New Milford History 17 

the enemy, shall be suffered to abide and continue in the town 
during the present situation of our public affairs." A com- 
mittee was appointed to carry out these resolutions, with the 
result that several never came back, and their lands were con- 
fiscated by the State. 

We learn of much pleasant social life in the peaceful days 
following the war. There were the " assemblies." An invita- 
tion card for one of these functions is for " Friday Evening, 
July third next, at six o'clock." What would the young people 
of our day think of that.^ Another is for a " Quarter Ball, 
at Mr. G. Booth's Assembly Room, on June 3d at three o'clock, 
P. M." ! In winter there were merry sleighing parties to neigh- 
boring towns. Often large companies in twenty or thirty 
sleighs enjoyed an early supper together, getting safely home 
before ten o'clock. 

Afternoon teas were frequent; not like yours, dear up-to- 
date woman of to-day, but " tea-drinkings," where the women 
took their knitting work and spent long afternoons in visit- 
ing. Mrs. Nathaniel Taylor had on one occasion such a com- 
pany. The parson, in his study overhead, was greatly inter- 
ested in the fragments of conversation that floated up to him. 
Each woman had some exciting tale of her domestic experi- 
ences to relate. One quiet sister, unable to hold her own in the 
babel of tongues, tried again and again to tell her story, be- 
ginning, " My goose ." But each time the quiet voice was 

drowned, and the story never proceeded further. 

When good Parson Taylor was summoned to the tea table 
he said : " Ladies, I have been so interested in your conver- 
sation, I thought it worth preserving. So I wrote it down and 
will read it to you." Great was the amusement when he read 
the persistent efforts of their friend to tell the story of " My 
Goose." After all, human nature is much the same in all 
generations. 

The town enjoyed in the old days quite a reputation for 
good living, and many were the notable feasts cooked over the 
great fireplaces and in the huge brick ovens before the days of 
stoves and ranges. What an amount of seasoned hickory logs 



18 The Past and Present 

went up- the chimney in smoke to cook them ! Forty cords of 
wood, the record gives, as one item of the minister's salary for 
the year. 

The means of transportation in early times furnished one 
of the most serious problems. The Housatonic Railroad was 
not completed till 1840. Before this, all transportation of 
produce and merchandise was by wagons to Bridgeport, and 
thence by sloop to New York. The mail also came in much 
the same way, being brought here from Bridgeport by a car- 
rier on horscl)nck. Our old friend, the late Colonel Wm. J. 
Starr, remembered the postman of his childhood days, who 
announced his arrival by shouting as he rode, " News ! News ! 
Some lies and some trues ! " 

We owe to Colonel Starr a vivid picture of the Main Street 
of the village nearly a century ago, as he recalled it. It is not 
an agreeable picture. Pigs were kept in the street, and be- 
fore almost every house was a long trough, where twice a day 
they were fed. We can hardly wonder that fevers broke out 
mysteriously. Geese also roamed at will, and mischievous 
youths were known to play a practical joke on some unpop- 
ular man by penning all the geese in the village into his front 
porch during the night. 

Many of the front yards were adorned with huge wood- 
piles, A part of the street was a swamp, through which ran 
a crooked water course that, after a shower, left pools of mud, 
in which pigs and cattle cooled themselves, for " The Green " 
was also a cattle pasture. The story is told of a dignified 
gentleman of the old school, who, dressed in immaculate white 
on a summer Sunday, was hastening across " The Green " to 
church, making his way among the puddles, when a large hog. 
frightened from a pool, ran violently against him. He had 
an unsought ride on its back across the street, and was 
deposited in a puddle, in full view of the waiting congrega- 
tion gathered on the church steps. 

In 1838 the open-paved watercourse through " The Green " 
was constructed and was regarded as a grand improvement. 

The Village Improvement Society was organized in 1871, 




JEHIEL WILLIAMS, M. D. 
An early and beloved physician. B. 1782, d. 1862. 



Glimpses of Old New Milford History 19 

and, a little later, under its auspices, " The Green " was put 
in its present attractive condition, a covered brick sewer being 
laid to replace the open-paved watercourse which previously 
ran through the center of the street. This was accomplished 
on the initiative, and largely though the instrumentality, of 
Mr. and Mrs. William D. Black, whose efforts and energies 
were always directed for the benefit of the village. A large 
and successful fair to raise money for this purpose was held 
in a tent on " The Green " in July, 1872, and the residents of 
]\Iain Street accepted a voluntary assessment of a large amount 
to perfect the work. 

A familiar and welcome sight of long ago was the village 
doctor on horseback with his saddlebags. He was the friend 
of everyone, beloved and venerated next to the minister. His 
store of huge pills and herbs and simples carried healing and 
comfort to all the countryside. Dr. Jehiel Williams was the 
last of these old-time doctors in New INIilford. He is still re- 
membered by many with reverent tenderness. His kindness 
knew no bounds, and his hearty laugh carried cheer wherever 
he went. A cautious man he was. Even his most cherished 
opinions were always prefaced with " I 'most guess." He was 
cautious also in his remedies, and the overworked woman of 
this busy age would hardly accept his cure for nerves and 
sleeplessness : " Take a hop, put it in a teacup and fill the cup 
with hot water. Drink it at night and I 'most guess you will 
feel better." It was whispered that his huge pills were often 
made of bread, when he felt none were needed. 

He rode up and down the hills for a lifetime, charging 
twenty-five cents for a visit, fifty cents when the journey was 
long — afterwards sixty-two and a half cents ! On one occa- 
sion he rode five miles to find that his patient had been already 
relieved by some housewife's simple remedy. He declined any 
fee, merely saying, " What I have learned in this cure is worth 
far more to me than the trouble of coming." 

He was friend and helper to three generations, and when, 
at last, full of years and honors, he went to his well-earned 
rest, every household of the town mourned his departure. 



20 The Past and Present 

Slavery existed here, as elsewhere in New England, in the 
first century of the town. A written advertisement for a run- 
away slave, offering a reward for his capture, and signed, 
" Gideon Treat, New Milford, September, 1774," is still in 
existence. It sounds strange enough to twentieth century ears. 
Judging from the records, slaves were generally well treated in 
New Milford, and many owners freed their own negroes long 
before the days of slavery were over. 

A woman is recorded as the first in our town to free a 
slave. Mary Robburds, in 1757, gave her negro servant Dan 
his freedom. Partridge Thatcher, a lawyer here, was espe- I 
cially noted for his kindness to his slaves. Judge David S. 
Boardman wrote concerning him: "He had no children, but 
a large number of negroes whom he treated with a kindness 
enough to put to shame the reproaches of all the Abolitionists 
of New England." And he freed them all during his lifetime. 

But the sins of old days in this matter were somewhat atoned 
for in after years by the zeal of the Abolitionists of New Mil- 
ford in aiding runaway slaves to reach Canada and freedom. 
In the later days of slavery in the South there were several 
stations of the Underground Railroad in this vicinity. Mr. 
Charles Sabin's house in Lanesville was one, and the house of 
Mr. Augustine Thayer on Grove Street in this village was 
another. Mr. Thayer and his good wife devoted their lives to 
the Abolition cause. They helped many poor slaves on their 
way, rising from their beds in the night to feed and minister 
to them, and secreting them till they could be taken under cover 
of darkness to Deacon Gerardus Roberts' house on Second Hill, 
from there to Mr. Daniel Piatt's in Washington, and so on, 
by short stages, all the way until the Canadian border was 
reached. 

The spirit and courage of the fathers have descended to the 
sons through many generations. This has been proved again 
and again in later years, notably in our Civil War. During all 
the dark four years from the terrible day when the flag fell 
at Fort Sumter to the memorable rejoicing over the fall of 
Richmond, there were not wanting brave sons of this old town 





SALLY NORTHROP 

Born 1776, died 1S70 

A resident of New Milford for One 

Hundred Years 



DAVID Cl^RTIS SANPORD 

Born 179 >, died 1S64 

A Justice of tlie Supreme Court of 

Connectiucut 





HENRY SEYMOt'R SANFORD 
Born 1832, di d 1901 
in of David O. banfurd; Attorney at the 
Fairfield and Litchfield County Bars 



WILLIAM DIMON BLACK 
Born 1S36. died 1SS9 
Member of firm t^f jjad. tilack & Co., 
New Y'orli City; for eighteen years a 
resident of New Milford and active in 
the devolpment of the town till his 
death, 1SS9 



Glimpses of Old New Milford History 21 

to offer their lives, and fathers to give of their substance. The 
daughters of the town vied with each other in loyal labors for 
their country, and gave their time with their hearts to loving 
ministry. 

In recent days the courage of our citizens has been " tried 
as by fire." The great conflagration of May, 1902, swept 
away the entire business portion of the village ; yet the Puritan 
fathers could not have met disaster more stoically than our 
brave men of to-day. The cheerful optimism that built 
" Shanty Town " on " The Green " while the ruins were still 
smouldering showed that the stout hearts of old New Milford 
were the same in the new, and that noble lives have been its 
inheritance through all its years. 

We smile as we recall the old days and ways, but we bare 
our heads reverently before those godly men and women whose 
hardships meant a better way for us. Two hundred years 
hence others will read our record, and smile, perhaps. Will 
it be as worthy.'' 



THE OWNERS OF NEW MILFORD 

NAMES OF THE PROPRIETORS IN THE MIIyFORD COMPANY, WHO, 

UNDER A DEED OF DATE OF JUNE, 1703, WERE THE 

OWNERS OF THE TOWN OF NEW MILFORD 

Compiled akd Arranged by General Henry Stuart Tuhhill * 

The followin<^ were proprietors to the amount of £1 4s.: 
Col. Robert Treat, Mr. Thomas Clark, Ensign George Clark, 
Lieut. Joseph Treat, Ensign Joseph Peck, Jonathan Baldwin, 
committee; Capt. Samuel Eells, Sergt. Edward Camp, Rev. 
Mr. Andrews, Thomas Wlech, James Prime, Stephen Miles, 
Barnabas Baldwin, John Woodruff, Mr. Richard Bryan, Dan- 
iel Terrell, Samuel Brisco, Timothy Botsford, Sergt. Daniel 
Baldwin, Mr. Robert Treat, Deacon Piatt, Thomas Clark, Mr. 
Samuel Clark, Jr., Samuel Buckingham, Thomas Buckingham, 
John Buckingham, William Wheeler, Nathaniel Farrand, Sr., 
George Allen, Saipuel Camp (mason), John Smith ye 4th, Sam- 
uel Clark, Sr., Ephraim Burwell, Joseph Beard, Joseph Camp, 
Samuel Camp (Lanesend), Nathaniel Farrand, Jr., Thomas Tib- 
bals, Thomas Canfield, John Merwin, Samuel Smith (West end), 
William Gold, Joseph Wheeler, John Prince, Samuel Camp, 
(son of Edward Camp), Eleazor Prindle, Lieut. Camp, William 
Scone, Samuel Baldwin (wheelwright), Lieut. Joseph Piatt, 
Sergt. Miles Merwin, Samuel Sanford, Sr., John Beard, Mr. 
Samuel Andrews, Sr., George Clark, Sr., Joseph Clarke, Jo- 
seph Peck, Jr.. John Camp, Sergt. John Smith, Jonathan 
Law, Jr., John .Hien, Hugh Grey, Joseph Ashbum, John 
Summers, James Fenn, Zachariah Whitman, William Adams, 
Joseph Rogers, Samuel Stone, Jonathan Baldwin, Jr.: Jesse 

* Henry Stuart Turrill, Brisradier General United States Army, a native 
and former resident of New Milford, enlisted in the army, 1863, retired. 
1906, died suddenly May 24, 1907, while dictatinff his reminiscences for 
this volume. 

22 



The Owners of New Milford 23 

Lambert, Frederick Prudden, Sergt. Zachariah Baldwin, Ben- 
jamin Smith, Sr., John Smith, Jr., John Piatt, Josiah Piatt, 
Richard Piatt, Samuel Prindle, Sergt. Samuel Beard, Sergt. 
Samuel Northrope, George Clarke, Jr., Samuel Coley, Samuel 
Merwin, Lieut. Samuel Burwell, Samuel INIiles, James Beard, 
Samuel Nettleton, Joseph Treat (son of Lieut. Treat), Jere- 
miah Canfield, Thomas Smith, Nathaniel Baldwin, Jr., Jere- 
miah Beard, Bethel LankstafF, Andrew Sanford, Sr., Nath. 
Sanford, John Merwin, Joseph Tibbals, Billin Baldwin (in 
right of her father, Sergt. Timothy Baldwin, deceased), and 
Mr. Samuel Mather. 

The following were proprietors to the amount of 12s.: Mr. 
Robert Plumb, Andrew Sanford, Widow Mary Baldwin, James 
Baldwin, Nathaniel Baldwin (cooper), Henry Summers, Samuel 
Smith (water), John Clark, and William Fowler. 



TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO 

Contributed by Sarah Sanford Black 

Upon this hilltop stood the doughty priest 
And bade his minions, men of brawn and bone, 
To dig for water ere the frost should come 
To lock the land and shroud the hill in snow, 

Two hundred years ago. 
And here they labored long and valiantly, 
Till far beneath the sod a rill arose 
And 'twixt the rocks a stream broke forth 
And sparkled in the Autumn evening glow 

Two hundred years ago. 

" Thank God for water pure and clear," he cried. 
And in the twilight grey the good priest stood 
And looking off beyond the valley fair, 
To where the same hills which we love and know, 

Two hundred years ago 
Seemed to touch Paradise, as now, he called 
On God, the wanderers' God, to bless the well 
Which was to them that day, the most desired 
Of all the gifts which man or beast could know, 

Two hundred years ago. 

The years have passed, two hundred years, — and now 
We stand beside the well, which was the first 
Our village knew, — " The Ancient Boardman Well " ; 
To-day the bucket dips, the waters flow. 
Just as they did 
Two hundred years ago. 
We look where purple hilltops touch the sky, 
We kneel and thank our God for all the past — 
24 




THE FIRST AVELL IX THE TOWN OF NEW MILFORD 

hy Priest Daniel Boardnian. Tlie property is now owned liy Mi 
William D. Blaek, and known as " Hiekorv Hearth" 



Two Hundreds Years Ago 25 

They clasped His hand as we do, tho' that day 
All that their future held they could not know 
As we know now, — 
Two hundred years ago. 

We thank our fathers' God for all His care. 
For smiling fields and busy haunts of men, — 
For all the gifts of Science and of Art, — 
For lives whose deeds His loving guidance show 
Brave as those lives 

Two hundred years ago. 
All are from Him, these works of hand and brain 
His love has made men wise, has kept men true. 
Since first upon this hilltop life began. 
And water in the wilderness did flow 
Here at this well 

Two hundred years ago. 



THE TWO ABIGAILS 

REMINISCENCES OF A TYPICAL NEW MILFORD FAMILY 
CONTEIBUTED BY GeNEEAL HeNRY StuAET TuEHILL 

Caleb Terrill, eldest son of Daniel and Zorvia (Canfield) 
Terrell, was born in Milford, Connecticut, December 3, 1717. 
Nearing his majority, he was given the right of land in 
New Milford of which his grandfather, Daniel, Sr., was the 
original proprietor. The first allotment to this right was 
made April 14, 1729, and consisted of about forty-two acres 
of land on Second Hill, fronting the old Bostwick place. 
Here, in the spring of 1738, Caleb built his house, cleared a 
little part of his land and planted a small garden. Late in 
the summer he returned to Milford. In September he mar- 
ried, in Stratford, Abigail, daughter of Josiah and Alice 
(Canfield) Bassett, his first cousin, and, in a few days, re- 
turned with his bride to the little home on Second Hill. On 
this spot he hved until his death, February 29, 1796. 

This house was the home of his youngest son, Major Turrill, 
until his death in 1847. Among my very earliest recollections, 
is a visit to this old place. It was in 1846. I had just passed 
my fourth birthday, and spent my first day at school. So I, 
as the youngest of my name, was taken by my father to pay 
my respects to the oldest living member of my family. I think 
that this visit produced one of the most lasting impressions 
of my childhood. I can recall it now, sixty years after. At 
that time Major Turrill was seventy-eight years old. The 
large splint-bottomed chair in which he was seated had four 
enormous legs, seemingly six inches in diameter at least, the 
two in front continuing up to support the broad arms on which 
his hands reposed, the two behind extending far above his 
head. As he rested his head against the broad splint back, 
he produced the effect of a grand old gentleman in a rustic 

26 



The Two Abigails 27 

frame. jVlajor Turriil was a broad-shouldered man of medium 
height, very upright even in his seventy-eighth year. He had a 
large, well-formed head and a strong face of a rather stem 
cast of countenance, while his hair, which was abundant, was 
steel gray rather than white. My father presented me to him 
as the youngest of the race, who had just commenced his life 
work by his first day at school. He called me to him and, 
placing a broad hand upon my head, said to my father, " A 
fine little lad," then turning to me he said, " You must grow 
up as fine a man as your grandfather, and stand for your 
country as he stood for it." 

The marriage of Caleb and Abigail, descended as they were 
from some of the most important of the founder famihes (she, 
from the Baldwins, Bryans, Bruens, and Schells, he, from the 
Fitches, Pratts and UfFords, and both, from the Canfields, the 
Mallorys and the Cranes), was an event of great importance 
in Stratford and Milf ord ; and, when it was known that Caleb 
was to take his bride to the new Plantation of the Weantinaug, 
the interest in the affair was much deepened. The conditions 
in those days were quite different from what they are at present. 
There were no parlor cars, nor honking autos to whisk the 
blushing bride, amid a shower of rice and old shoes, to the 
seclusion of the city hotel, there to hide her nuptial joys among 
the unknown multitude. So Caleb and Abigail were married 
in that pleasant Stratford home, she, surrounded by the friends 
of her girlhood, who, if the records are to be believed, were 
about the whole community, and he, supported by his three 
stalwart brothers and troops of cousins. A few days were 
passed in all the feasting and gayeties of the times, after 
which the young couple, surrounded by a band of the Strat- 
ford friends, started on their wedding journey. At the ferry 
across the " Great River," they were bidden farewell on the 
Stratford bank, only to be received on the Milford shore 
by an equally enthusiastic band of Milford friends, and to be 
escorted to Caleb's home in Milford. This was the founder 
home of Roger, and Caleb was the fourth generation to bring 
a bride to its shelter. His bride was a namesake of an earlier 



28 The Past and Present 

Abigail, who, ninety-nine years before, had come with her 
hfe mate to the then wilderness of Milford. Now, this sec- 
ond Abigail, this tenderly reared girl of scarce eighteen sum- 
mers, was starting with her life mate, for another wilderness — 
the New Milford. 

After a short stay at the old Tyrrell home, the wedding 
journey was resumed, up the " Great River " to the Wean- 
tinaug country. The " house plenishing," demanded by the 
customs of those days, had been furnished by Josiah Bassett, 
and had been securely packed in a stout boat to be rowed and 
poled up the river, this being, at that time, the only means of 
conveying heavy articles to the settlements above. The var- 
ious animals necessary to farming, although scarce in the New 
plantations, were plentiful in the older ones ; and, since Daniel 
Terrell was a man of " much substance," as the records say, 
an abundant supply had been assembled at the usual starting 
place for the journey up the river to the " Cove," just above 
Goodyear's Island. On a bright September morning, sur- 
rounded by brothers and sisters from both families, and a large 
company of friends and relatives, the newly-married pair set 
forth. 

The accompanying friends went as far as the first " noon- 
ing," somewhere below Derby. There, the last farewells were 
said, and Caleb, with his sweet girl wife on the pillion behind 
him, journeyed to their future home. They moved up the river, 
camping at night in some quiet nook, their boat, with their 
provisions and camp equipment, securely fastened to the river's 
bank. The bright camp fires flashed out from under the dense 
foliage of the grand old primeval forests that lined the banks 
of the Great River, while this pair of children strolled in the 
deepening gloom, whispering their love, their plans and their 
hopes of happiness in their home in the wilderness. For four 
days they thus leisurely journeyed towards the cot on Second 
Hill, reaching the Cove about noon of the fifth day. 

By the mouth of the little brook that falls into the Cove, 
just at the foot of " Lovers' Leap," they made their last camp, 
while their boat was being unloaded and a more permanent camp 




o 

cr; 
O 
O 

X 

H 

C 



The Two Abigails 29 

established, for it would be several days before their belong- 
ings could be conveyed to their home. As the sun was sinking 
toward the cover of Green Pond and Candlewood Moun- 
tains, Caleb led his bride up the winding trail that mounts the 
southern face of the grand old cliffs of Falls Mountain to 
Waramaug's Grave; and, from that sightly place, she had 
her first view of the beautiful Weantinaug Valley. Wara- 
maug's grave has ever been held an almost sacred spot by the 
descendants of Caleb and Abigail. In my early youth, on 
just such another September afternoon, I was taken by my 
father up this winding trail, and sitting on the grass by the 
side of those honored stones, was told the tale I have been 
relating, as each succeeding generation of the name had been 
told it before me. 

The wedding journey ended in that rough little home on 
Second Hill. There, the pair lived for fifty-eight years in 
happy wedlock; there, they reared a family of fourteen chil- 
dren (eleven sons and three daughters) of whom all came to 
manhood and womanhood; and, thence, in 1796, at nearly four 
score years, Caleb went to his eternal rest. Abigail survived 
him more than twenty years, in the full possession of all her 
faculties, and, at the extreme age of ninety-seven years, seven 
months, and eleven days, was laid beside the husband of her 
youth and the loving companion of so many years. 

A wonderful life was that of grandmother Abigail. She lived 
through four French and Indian wars, and two wars with 
England. She saw one son go to the last French war and 
return from the decisive battle on the Heights of Abraham. 
She saw six sons go to the Revolution, and, having faithfully 
performed their part in their country's struggle — at the siege 
of Boston, in the battle of Long Island and White Plains, in 
the crossing of the Delaware and at Valley Forge with Wash- 
ington, in the battles of Trenton, Saratoga, Princeton, Mon- 
mouth, and Germantown — return victorious and unscathed. 
She also saw Stephen and Isaac return from the successful and 
conclusive struggle at Yorktown. Finally she saw four of her 
grandsons return from the second contest with England. 



30 The Past and Present 

It would be hard to find in American history two more 
remarkable women than the two Abigails of the Tyrrell family. 
The first, Abigail Ufford, leaving a happy English home in 
Essex, braving the trials and privations of the American voyage 
of 1632, lived through the horrors of the Pequot War, 
and went with her young husband to found a primitive home 
in Milford. She stood among that company, which, under 
the umbrageous trees of Peter Prudden's home lot, listened to 
the stately Ansantawa, as, plucking a branch from a tree and 
gathering a grassy clod from the earth, sticking the branch in 
the clod and sprinkling it with water from the Milford River, 
he waved it in the air, declaring that he " gave to them 
forever, the earth with all thereon, the air, and the waters 
above and below." In this home, thus acquired, she lived for 
fifty-five years, rearing eleven children ; saw her sons go to 
King Philip's War ; and saw them when they had reached 
man's estate, start off with their loving helpmates, as their 
father had done before them, to found other homes — in South- 
old, in Newark, in Stratford, and in Woodbury. Ninety-nine 
years after, comes into that Milford home the second Abigail, 
to venture forth in her turn, like the first Abigail, into the 
wilderness. 



NEW MILFORD IN THE WARS 

By General Henry Stuart Turrill 

For the first fifty years from its settlement by John Noble, 
the town of New Milf ord had very little concern in the military 
affairs of the colonies. The Colony of Connecticut furnished 
soldiers in the war of 1711 and in 1713; and, in 1721, occurred 
a great outpouring of Connecticut colonists for foreign ser- 
vice. In 1745 a call came to Connecticut from the sister 
colonies for large numbers of troops for service outside her 
borders, and, again, in 1755. In response to these calls. New 
Milford seems not to have sent any men. The defense of their 
own town and of its outlying districts was about all the 
colonists of New Milford undertook in a military way, this 
being sufficiently strenuous to engage their entire attention. 

We are inclined, in these later days, to smile at the train-band 
of the ancient times, but the train-band service of our Colonial 
fathers was one of exceeding severity. 

The first company in New Milford was organized in 1715, 
and was commanded for twenty years by Captain Stephen 
Noble. The service for the guarding of the frontier towns 
in the colony of Connecticut was an exceedingly arduous one. 
Every male citizen, except the aged, the infirm, and the min- 
isters, was obliged to do military duty. These militia-men 
had to provide their arms and equipment at their own expense, 
and, if any business required their absence from the town, they 
were obliged to provide a substitute and to pay, themselves, 
for his services. The arms which each soldier furnished 
consisted of a musket or rifle, a bullet pouch containing twenty 
bullets, a powder horn containing twenty charges of powder, 
and such an amount of cloth or buckskin as would make suffi- 
cient wadding for this number of charges. These requirements 

31 



S2 The Past and Present 

were constant, and frequent examinations were made to see 
that all of the men of the company complied with them. 

As New Milford was, during most of these first fifty years 
of its existence, a frontier town, a hne of guards was estab- 
Hshed which reached across the country from Woodbury to 
the New York boundary, and the members of the company 
had to take turns in patrolling this line. 

The second company in New Milford was organized in 1744, 
and both of these companies continued to exist until the Revo- 
lution. 

The first recorded service of the New Milford men beyond 
their own borders occurred about 1758. The greatest accu- 
mulation of men found on the record is a company raised for 
the French and Indian War in 1759. It was commanded by 
Captain Whiting and was known as the " Tenth Company of 
Colonel David Wooster's Third Regiment of Connecticut Levy." 
The New Milford men were First Lieutenant Hezekiah Baldwin, 
Sergeant Israel Baldwin, Corporal John Bronson, Drummer 
Zadock Bostwick. The privates were Isaac Hitchcock, Barrall 
Buck (there are two mentions of Buck, he being recorded also 
as David Buck), Martin Warner, David Hall, Dominie Doug- 
las (whether Dominie stood for minister or was just the bap- 
tismal name, I do not know), Thomas Oviatt, Daniel Daton, 
Joseph Lynes, Ashel Baldwin, Elnathan Blatchford, Ebenezer 
Terrill, William Gould, David Collings, Joseph Jones, Moses 
Fisher, Zachariah Ferris, Jesse Fairchild, Joseph Smith, Ben- 
jamin Wallis, Benjamin Hawley, Moses Johnson. 

The Colonial Records do not show where this regiment was 
used. Colonel Wooster had a long Colonial service and marched 
with several expeditions toward Canada. How far these men 
marched is not on record. They were enlisted in the spring, 
and seem to have returned to their homes in the fall. Whether 
they went as far as the expedition of that year toward Canada 
does not appear. Possibly family traditions might throw some 
light on the matter. 

In the Eleventh Company of the Second Regiment, Colonel 
Nathaniel Whiting commanding, Ruben Bostwick was ensign, 



New Milford in the Wars 33 

and the records show that Private James Bennett went from 
the town in 1760. 

In the calls from New Milford of 1759 and 1761 occur the 
names of Hczekiah Baldwin, Second Lieutenant, Second Com- 
pany, Third Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Hinman command- 
ing), Israel Baldwin, and Josiah Baldwin. The records show 
that, in the same year, Ashel Turrell, son of Nathan, with his 
brother Nathan, went from the town to the army in New York 
or Canada. Caleb Turrill, Enoch Turrill, Isaac Turrill, sons 
of Caleb Terrell, also went in the same organization. John 
Terrell is mentioned as being in the war (1761), but I judge 
that to be a mistake, as there was no John Terrell in the town 
of New Milford of age sufficient to answer that call. 

The Eleventh Company of the Fourth Regiment was com- 
manded by Captain Josiah Canfield, the Regiment being com- 
manded by Colonel Wooster. There appear the names of 
Ashel, son of Nathan Terrell, and of Enoch, son of Caleb 
Turrill. 

In the Tenth Company of the Second Regiment (Colonel 
Nathaniel Whiting's) commanded by Captain Gideon Stod- 
dard, the name of William Drinkwater appears. The following 
New Milford names are scattered through the Second, Third 
and Fourth Connecticut regiments : Bronson, Baldwin, Beach, 
Bardsley, Beebe, Bennett, Boardman, Booth, Buck, Buell 
(David, afterward a Revolutionary soldier) Bostwick, Camp, 
Comstock, Couch, Crane, Curtis, Drinkwater, and Ferris. 

Captain Joseph Canfield raised a company in 1758, of which 
Jeremiah Canfield was the drummer. The last edition of the 
Colonial Records (issued only a year or so ago), the best ex- 
isting authority upon the period, gives merely the names of 
the members of this company and the length of their service, 
with dates of enlistment and of discharge. Exactly what role 
they played it is impossible now to find out. There are many 
traditions in the families of their doings, but these family tra- 
ditions are not as full as those of the Revolution, which, fol- 
lowing so quickly, effaced memories which would otherwise 
have survived. There are some tales of Bill Drinkwater, of 



34 The Past and Present 

Stephen Terrell, and Thomas Drinkwater, but they are so in- 
definite that all which can be gleaned from them is that these 
men went as far as Quebec, and were in the battle on the 
Heights of Abraham, and, possibly, in some of the others. 

Most of the members of this company must have returned, 
as their names appear in the town affairs after this period. 
There is no record of any loss of life, so far as I have been 
able to find, among the New Milford men who participated 
in the French and Indian War. Very little disturbance from 
Indians occurred in the vicinity of New Milford during this 
war; there is but one instance of trouble, I think, recorded. 
A very good understanding with the Indians was attained by 
the warm friendship between Waramaug, chief of all the tribes 
of the region, and the New Milford minister. Rev. Mr. Board- 
man, who attended old Waramaug on his deathbed. Quite 
an interesting tale is told of his death, but that will probably 
be recorded in another place. After the close of the French 
and Indian War there seems to have been little military activity 
in New Milford, except the keeping up of the two companies 
under the rigorous acts of the Colonial Guard. These were 
officered and drilled as they had been from their formation. 
It is not till the period of the Revolution is reached that the 
town takes on very much of a military character. 

Canfield, Bostwick and Noble seem to have been the most 
prominent names in military affairs during the Colonial period. 

The first company of which mention is made in connection 
with the Revolution is that of Lieutenant Ebenezer Couch, 
who served in the regiment of Colonel Andrew Ward. This 
company does not appear at all in either the Connecticut War 
Book or the rolls of the Connecticut Historical Society. The 
first notice of Ebenezer Couch In the Connecticut War Book 
Is of his commanding a company of Colonel Canfield's regi- 
ment at West Point and Peekskill In 1777. The only record 
of the company Is In a roll which was In the possession of 
the late Colonel William J. Starr of New Milford, and which. 
I suppose, was among his papers when he died. It was raised 
in May, 1775. The names of Its members are given In the 



New Milford in the Wars 35 

roll of New Milford men in the Revolution, which is appended 
to this article and need not be repeated here. 

Its history is rather indefinite. It seems to have been raised 
for the Lexington alarm, but, being too late for that purpose, 
it probably went to the Sound or to New York. The date 
of its discharge does not appear on any record, but most of 
the men are soon found on the rolls of other companies in the 
service. 

In July, 1775, a company was formed in New Milford, 
commanded by Captain Isaac Bostwick, who was first com- 
missioned on the sixteenth of that month and, later, was re- 
comraissioned at Boston. It joined the regiment of Colonel 
Charles Webb, under the name of the Seventh Connecticut 
Levy, served along the Sound, and then went to the siege of 
Boston. Its term of ser^'ice was to expire in December, 1775. 
About the time it was to be discharged, it was reorganized 
as the Nineteenth Regiment of Connecticut Line, enlisted for 
one year. Most of the men of Captain Bostwick's company, 
as well as those of Lieutenant Couch's company, appear in the 
new organization. The company and regiment remained at 
the siege of Boston until after the evacuation of that place 
by the British, when they accompanied General Washington 
to New York, going by land as far as New London and thence 
by boat. They were put to work at first upon the fortifications 
of New York, then, on the completion of that work, they were 
taken over to Brooklyn, and were employed, on the left of 
the line, in completing the fortifications there. They were 
not engaged in the battle of Long Island, but they covered the 
retreat, after that disaster, and played an important part in 
the subsequent movements about New York. They rendered 
some aid to the Brigade of Connecticut Militia in the disastrous 
affair of Kipp's Bay, moved with the army across the Har- 
lem to Westchester, and were hotly engaged, with considerable 
loss, in the battle of White Plains. 

After this battle, and before the capture of Fort Washing- 
ton, they were brought down to Spuyten Duy^'il creek, just at 
its junction with the Hudson, and were kept there furnishing 



36 Thk Past and Present 

guards, orderlies and escorts for the movements about the fort. 
While tlie Jumel mansion (then the old Morris house) was being 
used as the American Headquarters, many of Captain Bost- 
wick's men were frequently on duty about the place as guards 
and orderlies. The following is a tradition for which the only 
authority is the stories told by the old soldiers around John 
Turrill's fireside many years after : During the engagement 
of the British with Fort Washington, a sergeant's guard under 
the command of David Buell of New Milford, which had been 
placed at a picket station near the base of Inwood Hill, were 
separated, by the rapid advance of the Hessians up the Har- 
lem River (a movement, which, but for the quickness of a 
soldier's wife at the INIorris house, would have resulted in the 
capture of General Washington), from their regiment across 
the creek and obliged to fall back to Fort Washington. Being 
hotly pursued by the advancing enemy, they were forced to 
take cover under the banks of the Hudson, to avoid the fire 
of almost an entire regiment. A small party of the Hessians 
endeavored to cut off their retreat to the fort and one of them 
succeeded in jumping down the bank in front of the New 
Milford men. Roger Blaisdell was in the advance, and, as the 
German stumbled down the bank in front of him, pushed him 
with a thrust of his bayonet into the river and the party 
reached temporary safety in Fort Washington. 

The Fort was soon captured by the British, however, and 
our New Milford men found themselves in the unfortunate 
position of prisoners of war. 

The prisoners, according to the stories told by them after- 
ward, were moved down to a point about where Union Square 
is now, and were there confined in a barn, for three days, before 
any food was given them. Then, wagons from the British 
slaughter-houses arrived, loaded with the hock bones of the 
cattle killed for the British troops. These wagons having been 
backed up to the door of the barn, the hock bones were 
shoveled in on the floor, while the prisoners scrambled for 
what they could get. It is said that their hunger was so great 
that they seized the bones and gnawed them as a dog would. 



New Milford in the Wars 37 

They were kept for three days in this bam, and were then 
conveyed down to that much-dreaded place of confinement, 
the Old Sugar House Prison, a sugar store-house, which was 
between Ann and Fulton streets. It was a building with a 
large central portion, and had two wings which projected on 
either side of a little courtyard. There were no cellars and the 
floor was of puncheons (hewn logs eight or ten inches thick) laid 
loose on the floor timbers. It was very strongly constructed 
in order that it might sustain the weight of the heavy casks 
of sugar and molasses which came from the West Indies. 

The place where our twelve New Milford men slept was 
just inside one of the doors. The two projecting rooms on 
either side were occupied by the guard of the prison and the 
officers, respectively. A sentry paced up and down the front 
from the guard room to the room of the officers. The provisions 
furnished to the prisoners were exceedingly scanty and of so 
poor a quality that they had been condemned as unfit for the use 
of the soldiers and sailors of the British army. Their rations 
consisted mainly of moldy and wormy pilot bread. This regime, 
following the " bone diet " of the barn, soon reduced them to 
the verge of starvation. These poor Continentals had little 
or no money with which to purchase favors and they were 
soon in a very bad way. The British profited by this situation 
to try to get the Americans to renounce the Patriot cause 
and enlist in the British army. A guinea a head was off'ered 
to each British soldier who would induce a rebel to join their 
cause. The English guard was well fed and it was very tan- 
talizing to our New Milford men to see the burly Englishmen 
enjoying their abundant repasts. Necessity is the mother of 
invention, however, and our men soon formed a plan to obtain 
some of the much coveted food. The cooking for the guard 
was done in the room occupied by them and a limited amount 
of provisions was, from time to time, brought there. Late 
one afternoon, a half-barrel of mess pork was brought in and 
opened for use, and left standing under the charge of the 
sentry for the night. This was our boys' opportunity and, 
as soon as the other prisoners were sound asleep, they very 



38 The Past and Present 

quietly raised one of the logs in their floor space and scooped 
out a little hole in the sand underneath. A place having been 
thus pi'cparcd for their expected booty, they then proceeded to 
get the much desired pork. The night was so dark that a man 
could not be recognized at any distance and this was much 
in tlieir favor. Roger Blaisdell quietly approached the sen- 
try and, explaining that he was tired of starving, asked to 
be told where he could go to enlist in the British army, adding 
that he did not dare to come when the other prisoners were 
awake. The sentry, overjoyed at the prospect of the guinea, 
and fearing that, if he let the man go, some other would 
secure the much-coveted prize, told Blaisdell to walk up and 
down his beat with him until he should be relieved, when he 
would take him to the officer of the day. Accordingly, they 
paced up and down the sentry's beat until, when a good oppor- 
tunity occurred at the point farthest from the quarters of the 
guard, Blaisdell hit his companion a blow behind the ear 
which would have felled an ox and which knocked the sentry 
senseless. The men, who were on the watch, rushed to the 
pork barrel, scooped out an armful of pork each, quickly de- 
posited it in the hole that they had prepared, replaced the 
plank, and dropped down upon it, snoring to beat a bass 
drum. Of course an alarm was raised and the prisoners were 
turned out, but the sentry was too much shaken up by the 
blow to be able to tell much about the matter. The loss of 
the pork was not discovered that night, if at all, so there was 
nothing to direct attention to the men, and they escaped de- 
tection. Each night, while the other prisoners were sleeping, 
the enterprising twelve would quietly raise the plank and have 
a meal of raw salt pork. In after days, those of the group 
who survived the prison experiences (particularly Sergeant 
David Buell) used to refer to their prison pork as the sweetest 
food that they had ever eaten, and for years the standing 
toast at their reunions was, " To Roger Blaisdell's pork 
barrel." 

Within the last few months I have compared my recollections 
with those of other descendants of these men and have found 
that the traditions of these events agree so nearly as to war- 



New Milford in the Wars 39 

rant the belief that there was much truth in the stories told 
by the old veterans. 

After being confined for a number of weeks in the sugar 
house, the prisoners were taken to the prison ship Dutton. Two 
hundred of them were transported to Milford and put ashore 
there. Twenty were dead before the vessel arrived and twenty 
more died very soon after. All the forty are buried in the 
graveyard of that place. Of the twelve men of New Mil- 
ford, tradition narrates the return of only four, Roger Blais- 
dell, David Buell, William Drinkwater and Lyman Noble. 
Through friends in Milford, they were able to secure a horse, 
and thus Avorked their way back to New Milford, reaching there 
about March, 1777. This group was eliminated from Captain 
Isaac Bostwick's company and did no further service until 
their companions came home from the successful fields of Tren- 
ton and Princeton. Shortly after the fall of Fort Washington, 
the regiment containing Captain Bostwick's company was 
ordered to Philadelphia. It was with Washington at German- 
town before the army went into winter quarters at Valley 
Forge. Its term of service was to expire December 20, 1776. 
But Washington was then planning the move which ended in 
the crossing of the Delaware at Trenton, and many of its mem- 
bers remained in service, at his personal request, for a six 
weeks' campaign. 

Most of the men of Captain Bostwick's company were with 
Washington and crossed the Delaware on the twenty-fifth of 
December, 1776, and, on the early morning of that day, they 
were in the battle of Trenton, where they assisted in the 
capture of the Hessian regiment. They were engaged in 
the succeeding battle at Princeton, January 3, 1777, and were 
finally discharged on the first of February, 1777, when they 
returned to New Milford. 

Captain Bostwick appeared as a leader in the Danbury 
alarm. With him was John Terrell and David Buell, 
who had so far receovered from his prison experiences as to 
join his old companions on that occasion. Roger Blaisdell does 
not appear, but Bill Drinkwater does. With them was a New 
Milford man who had been in Captain Couch's first company. 



40 The Past and Present 

one Ruben Phillips. Ruben Phillips was a colored man, living 
in New Milford, who had evidently been the cook in Captain 
Bostwick's company. The descendants of Ruben Phillips were 
living, in my time, in the little house where the road goes up 
Chicken Hill toward Bridgewater, and this family knew that 
their ancestor had been in the Revolution with my grandfather. 
A descendant of this Philhps, Chester Phillips by name, volun- 
teered in the Twenty-ninth Connecticut Infantry in the War 
of the Rebellion and was killed in front of Petersburg, Vir- 
ginia. Truly the Revolutionary blood of New Milford was 
as good in the black man as in the white. 

The group from Captain Bostwick's company were engaged 
four days in the Danbury alarm. The following story re- 
garding this little band is extant: The British had commenced 
their retreat from Danbury by way of Ridgefield and these 
men were following them up very earnestly, pressing close upon 
a grenadier regiment which was the rear guard of the British 
force. John Terrell, William Noble, Bill Drinkwater and 
David Buell rushed together up one side of the famous rock 
in Ridgefield, while the grenadiers were still on the other side. 
One of them (which one I do not know), showing himself im- 
prudently, was shot by the British grenadiers. Of the truth 
of this story I have never been able to learn. It is firmly 
believed in and about Ridgefield and also in New Milford. 
There is a plate on the rock, I think, commemorating the death 
of one of the company. 

A number of men from New Milford were in the company 
of Captain Daniel Pendleton of Watertown, which belonged 
to the regiment of Colonel Judthon Baldwin, a regiment of 
artificers that served under the direction of the Quarter-Master- 
General as a Construction Corps. This regiment was in all 
the engagements of the war except those about Boston and 
those of the northern army above Albany, in more engage- 
ments, in fact, than any other body of Connecticut troops. 
In 1780, when General Green took command of the Southern 
Department, he requested that Captain Pendleton's company 
be sent to him. The company joined him, as requested, and 



New Milford in the Wars 41 

was the only body of Connecticut men that served south of 
Virginia. It was on duty there until the disbanding of the 
army in November, 1783. 

This was the only considerable group of men that went as 
a body from New Milf ord after the first two companies ; per- 
haps it might be called the third company. The enlistments 
were for short periods and the changes were quite frequent, 
until 1778 and 1779, when enlistments began to be made for 
three years or the war. 

New Milford is credited on the Connecticut War Records 
and the Connecticut Historical Society's rolls with two hun- 
dred and eighty-five men in the war, many of whom served two 
and three, and some even four terms of enlistment. 

While these soldiers of the Revolution were in the field doing 
military duty, their fathers and brothers were at home laboring 
for their support; not so easy a task when it is remembered 
that in the first three years of the war the Colony of Connecti- 
cut paid for the maintenance and equipment of her troops in 
the field, for the damage to her people in the British raids of 
Danbury and Norwalk, the immense sum of £516,606. During 
the last four years of the war the Continental Congress fixed 
Connecticut's share of the expenses of the war at $1,800,000 
a year. At times the tax rates were three shillings on the pound. 
The eight years of the war were years of toil and suf- 
fering to those on the sterile hill-farms, where the striving 
and stress were about as great as in the midst of the dangers 
of the battle-field. Indeed, much of the war had come to these 
farmers' very doors, for the Tories of Squash Hollow and the 
Quakers of Quaker Hill and Straits Mountain had not proved 
themselves exactly the men of peace that they professed to be. 

The leading family of New Milford in the Revolution was 
the Bostwicks. There were ten of the name in the service 
during the war — Amos, Benjamin, Elijah, Elisha, Ebenezer, 
Isaac, Israel, Joel, Oliver and Solomon. The next was the 
Turrills, of whom there are nine on the records — Ashel, Caleb, 
Ebenezer, Enoch, Isaac, Joel, John, Nathan and Stephen. 
The Canfields have seven names to their credit — Amos, Ezra, 



42 The Past and Present 

John, Josiah, Moses, Nathaniel and Samuel — and the Baldwins, 
four — Jared, John, Jonas and Theodore. 

It would be impossible to give all the actions in which New 
Milford men were concerned during the Revolution without 
giving a history of the entire war. Some of the marked battles 
in which they were engaged were those about Philadelphia, 
the Mud Forts, Germantown and Monmouth. They partici- 
pated in the crossing of the Delaware from Princeton and, 
later, were at the surrender of Germantown. New Milford 
men were with Morgan at Saratoga and tradition says that 
they were at the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 
with Ethan Allen. Colonel Warner of Roxbury, the companion 
of Allen, who was well and favorably known in New Milford, 
had many friends, some of whom may have gone with him on 
that expedition. There may be some truth in this story, there- 
fore, as it is extant. 

According to one of the legends current in Western Connec- 
ticut, a troop of New Milford and Roxbury men on their way 
to the Hampshire Grants to join Ethan Allen, assembled at 
New Milford. Their first morning's march was up the Housa- 
tonic to a little spring which comes out near the present rail- 
road a short distance below Merwinsville. There, they were 
met by Deacon Gaylord, who had crossed the river from his 
place in a canoe, with a lunch, which included a bottle of apple- 
jack, and a jug of hard cider. He distributed these liquid 
refreshments so freely, deacon though he was, that the party 
were quite jolly before they moved on to their night camp, 
which was to be at Bull's Bridge. Whatever may be the truth 
of this story, it is evident that the New Milford men's eyes were 
turned very much toward the Northern Department, and that 
many of them served in the operations of that department. 

New Milford men wore present at the famous charge of Mad 
Anthony Wayne at Stony Point. A company of pioneers was 
selected to go fonvard and cut away the pickets in order to 
facilitate the advance of the charging column up into the fort. 
There is a tradition that Lieutenant David Buell was one of 
these pioneers, and, as he was in the engagement, the tradition 
is probably correct. The pioneers, having cut away the pickets, 



New Milford in the Wars 43 

scattered to the right and left, in accordance with their orders, 
leaving the way open for the charging column, which began 
the ascent. The cannoneer of the fort was swinging his lin- 
stock to fire a cannon which pointed right down the line. His- 
tory gives it that, at this critical moment, one of the pioneers 
rushed forward with his axe and knocked the cannoneer over 
before he was able to apply the linstock, thus saving the ex- 
pedition ; and legend claims that this pioneer was Sergeant 
David Buell. Legend goes on to say that, in the fort at Stony 
Point, the Continental soldiers found a number of Tories (some 
from the vicinity of New Milford) who had retired thither 
for protection. These Tories were paraded about the fort with 
ropes around their necks and David Buell, as a mark of dis- 
tinction, led the procession, holding a rope around the neck 
of the most valiant and troublesome Tory. David Buell re- 
ceived a pension for his services and was long a resident of 
New Milford, where, I beheve, he is buried. His house was on 
Second Hill, and, in his advanced years, he did little but travel 
about among his friends, frequently stopping for some time 
with a sister who lived in " Pug Lane " (now Park Lane) . His 
favorite resort, when he was with his sister, was Mr. Cush- 
man's Tavern, which is still standing on the road going up to 
Second Hill and Northville. It was his morning custom to 
go over to the tavern and meet his friends there. It was ob- 
served that, whenever an Englishman and Tory happened into 
Cushman's place, David Buell immediately left. He would go 
home and say " Umph ! an Englishman was there ; I could not 
stay." Another favorite gathering place of many of these 
old soldiers was at the home of John Turrill, and it was there 
that they celebrated the anniversaries. Their habit was to gather 
in the morning, go and make a call on Captain Isaac Bost- 
wick, drink a glass of wine, and then return to dinner at John 
Turrill's home, where they would afterward tell their stories. 
Many of these stories were quite lurid, possibly by reason of 
the quantity and quality of John Turrill's hard cider and apple- 
jack; for John, although extremely temperate himself, is said 
never to have stinted his former companions in arms either 
in food or drink. 



44 The Past and Present 

Stephen Turrill was another noted man in the regiments. 
He belonged at first to the company of Ebenezer Couch, but, 
soon after drifted into a number of organizations from New 
Milford which served about West Point. He was in that 
part of the country for nearly two years. There are num- 
berless stories of his encounters with the Tories. One of these 
is as follows : A band to which he was attached, while marching 
through the lower part of the Debatable Land, came to the 
house of a Dutch Tory. They wanted something to eat and 
asked the woman of the house if she could give them some milk 
or anything. She very gruffly told them that there was nothing 
in the house to eat, that she had nothing for the Rebels. 
Just then, something called her out of doors for a minute, 
and the soldiers saw that, over the fireplace, in a large pot, the 
dinner was boiling. Stephen Turrill's inquisitive mind deter- 
mined to know what was in that pot. Accordingly, he pulled 
off the lid, saw a fine bag pudding, pulled it out, put it in his 
haversack, and marched away. The woman quickly discovered 
her loss and came crying that the Rebels had stolen her pud- 
ding. The sergeant in command marched by his men and then 
told the woman there was no evidence of her pudding there; 
but, after she had retreated a short distance, he said " Turrill, 
did you get that woman's pudding.?" "Yes," said he, "here 
it is in my haversack." The company passed on and dined 
sumptuously. 

Scattered over the Debatable Land were little guard houses, 
in each of which a guard was kept for a week at a time, to 
intercept the approach of British or Tories. These guard 
houses usually consisted of two rooms, a front and back one. 
On one occasion 

[General Turrill's narrative of " New Milford in the Wars," was tragi- 
cally cut short at this point by his sudden death in the oflBce of the 
Grafton Press, where he was dictating it. It has seemed more fitting to 
leave this narrative in its unfinished condition, as a sort of memorial to 
him, than to have it completed by another. Any inconsistencies that may 
exist in it may be attributed to the fact that it did not have the benefit of 
his correction and revision. — Editok.] 




HEXHV STL AUT TrRRIM. 
Brig. Cleii. I'. S. Army 



New Milfoed in the Wars 



45 



THE COLONIAL WARS 

The names given in the rolls of the Connecticut Historical 
Society are as foUows: 

RANK. NAME, COMPANY, AND REGIMENT. LEVY. 

Privt. Ashmon, Justus, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

Sergt. Baldwin, Israel, 11th Co., 3rd Reg. " 

Lieut. Baldwin, Hezekiah, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

Privt. Baldwin, Ashael, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. " 

" Baldwin, Benjamin, 3rd Co., 1st Reg. 1762 

Baldwin, Joseph, 10th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

Ball, Joseph, 1st Co., 2nd Reg. 1759 

" Baker, Thomas, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

" Bartholomew, Lemuel, 2nd Co., 2nd Reg. 

" Bartholomew, Noah, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Beach, John, 1st Co., 4th Reg. 

" Beardsley, Amos, 2nd Co., 2nd Reg. 

" Beecher, Nathaniel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Bell, Robert, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Benedict, Ezra, 11th Co., 2nd Reg. 

" Beeman, Ben j ah, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Bisbee, Joseph, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" BHss, Gillum, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Botchford, Elnathan, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Bostwick, Elijah, 2nd Co., 3rd Reg. 

" Bostwick, Joseph, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Bostwick, Robert, Jr.* 
Drummer Bostwick, Zadoch, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

Corp. Brownson, Benjamin, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. " 

Privt. Brownson, John, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

" Brownson, Abram, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Brownson, Israel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Brownson, John, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Birch, Joseph, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Bradley, Jahuel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Bryan, Augustus, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

* In Orcutt's " History of New Milford," but not in the Connecticut 
Historical Society Rolls. 



46 



The Past and Present 



RANK. NAME, COMPANY, AND REGIMENT. LEVY. 

Privt. Buck, Bethial, 11th Co., -Ith Reg. 1758 

" Buck, David, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Buck, Daniel, 11th Co., 4.th Reg. 

« Botchford, Ehiathan, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Buell, David, 6th Co., 2nd Reg. 1759 

" Buell, Abel, 6th Co., 2nd Reg. 

" Bunce, John, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

Capt. Canfield, Joseph, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Privt. Canfield, Nathan, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 
Drummer Canfield, Jeremiah, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Privt. Canfield, Josiah, 2nd Co., 4th Reg. " 

Lieut. Castle, Phineas, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Privt. Carter, Elezer, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Chittenden, Isaac, 6th Co., 2nd Reg. 1759 

" Chittenden, Timothy, 6th Co., 2nd Reg. 

" Clark, Roger, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

Colhoon, David, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 
Drummer Cogswell, Edward, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Privt. Cogswell, Asa, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Collengs, Daniel, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

Curtis, Elezer, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

" Daton, Amos, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Dayton, Daniel, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

" Dean, John, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

" Deveraux, Jonathan, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Divine, Timothy, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Divene, Nathaniel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Dean, Uriah, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Dinsmore, Samuel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Douglas, Domincy, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

" Downs, David* 

" Drinkwater, Thomas, 10th Co., 2nd Reg. 1758 

" Drinkwater, William, 10th Co., 2nd Reg. 

" Durkee, David, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

* In Orcutt's " History of New Milford," but not in the Connecticut 
Historical Socictv Rolls. 



New Milford in the Wars 



RANK. NAME, COMPANY, AND REGIMENT. LEVY. 

Privt. Downs, Jonathan, Col. Nath. Whiting's Reg. 1762 

" Fail-child, Jesse, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

" Ferris, Zachariah, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. " 

" Fisher, Henry, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

" Fisher, Moses, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

" Foot, David, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

" Galusha, Jacob, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Gould, William, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Green, David, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Gurney, John, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Guthrie, Ephraim, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

« HambHn, Simon, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Hamlin, Joel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Hawley, Jcptha, 11 th Co., 4th Reg. " 
" Hawley, Benjamin, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 
Corp. Hawkins, Zadoc, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 
Privt. Harris, David, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 
Clerk Hine, Abel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 
Privt. Hall, David, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 
" Hitchcock, David, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" Hitchcock, Isaac, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Hill, Silas, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Hinman, Benjamin, 11th Co., 4th Reg., " 

Hurd, Lovel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. « 

Hurd, Noah, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Hurlbutt, Aaron, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Hurlburt, Elijah, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Hurlburt, Josiah, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Johnson, Moses, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Jones, Joseph, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

Lake, Gresslone, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

Latimer, Thomas, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Lynes, Joseph, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

Manville, Daniel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

Manville, John, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Mun, Gideon, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 



1759 
1758 



1759 
1758 



48 The Past akd Present 

rank. name, company, and regiment. levy. 

Privt. Murray, John, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

North, Thomas, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Oviatt, Thomas, 11th Co., 4th Reg. « 

" Owen, David, 11th Co., 4th Reg. « 

Parish, Jacob, 11th Co., 4th Reg. « 

" Peet, Jaihael, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Pike, Daniel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Phelps, James, 11th Co., 4th Reg. « 

Sergt. Prindle, Joseph, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Privt. Read, David, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Robbards, Eli, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

Capt. Ruggles, Benjamin, 12th Co., 2nd Reg. 1759 

Privt. Rayment, Samuel, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

" Sanford, Nathan, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Sanford, ( )ade, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Sawyer, Jess., 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Squire, Solomon, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

« Smith, Joseph, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

" Stone, Benjamin, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

Chaplain Taylor, Rev. Nathaniel, 2nd Reg. 1762 

Privt. Taylor, Abram.* 

" Terrell, Nathan, 2nd Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

" Terrell, Ashael, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 

" TerriU, Ebenezer, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

" Turrill, Enoch, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

" Turrill, Caleb, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Turrill, Isaac, 7th Co., 2nd Reg. 1759 

" Turrill, Stephen. f 

" Tuttle, Andrew, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

" Walker, Gideon, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Walker, Zachariah, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

" Warner, Benjamin, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

" Warner, Martin, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. " 

" Warner, Solomon.* 

* In Orcutt's " History of New Milford," but not in the Connecticut 

Historical Society Rolls, 
t Tradition that he was in Canada, but there is no record. 



New Milford in the Wars 49 

rank. name, company, and regiment. levy. 

Privt. Wallis, Benjamin, 10th Co., 3rd Reg. 1759 

Welton, John, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

Wright, Solomon, 11th Co., 4th Reg. 1758 

Wood, Ehsha, 11th Co., 4th Reg. " 

THE REVOLUTION 

The following is the roll of men on the various records as 
having had service in the Revolution who are accredited to New 
Milford: 

Muster roll of a company said to have been raised in New 
Milford and to have formed a part of Colonel Andrew Ward's 
regiment of Connecticut Militia, as given in Orcutt's New 
Milford : 

Lieut. Ebenezer Couch, Lieut. Elizur Bostwick, Ensign No- 
ble Hine, Clerk Benjamin Bostwick, Sergt. David Whittlesey, 
Sergt. Benjamin Weller, Sergt. Mathew Bronson, Sergt. Oliver 
Bostwick, Corp. Gideon Morgan, Corp. Uri Jackson, Corp. 
Nathaniel Cole, Corp. William Nichols, Corp. Lemuel Thayer, 
Drummer Eleazer Hendrix, Fifer David Ruggles, Fifer John 
Couch. 

Privates — Nathan Averill, Benjamin Adams, Salmon Bost- 
wick, John Baldwin, John Beach, Israel Bostwick, David Buell, 
Jared Baldwin, David Bosworth, Caleb Barnes, Mathias Bee- 
man, Stiles Bradley, Joel Bostwick, John Canfield, Jesse Camp, 
Jonathan Crittenden, Elija Cary, Israel Camp, Samuel Cop- 
ley, Ezra Dunning, Jedadiah Durkee, Caswell Dean, Thomas 
Drinkwater, Stephen Evitts, Asa Farrand, William Foot, Jon- 
athan Gray, Epenetus Gunn, Elnathan Gregory, Liverus Haw- 
ley, Ashael Hotchkis, Lewis Hunt, Richard Johnson, John 
Keeler, Nathan Keeler, David Keeler, Jonathan Lumm, Joseph 
Mygatt, Lyman Noble, Ephram Minor, David Porter, Samuel 
Prince, Amos Prime, Ruben Phillips, William Peet, John Rood, 
Isaac M. Ruggles, Aziah Robbards, Nathan Rowley, Liffe San- 
ford, Asa Starkweather, Jonah Todd, Ebenezer Trowbridge, 
John Turrill, Stephen Turrill, William Whitley, Nathan Wild- 
man, Cooley Weller, Abel Wilkins. 



50 The Past and Present 

Roll of Captain Isaac Bostwick's company, Seventh Company, 
Sixth Regiment, of Connecticut Line: Colonel Charles Webb; 
Capt. Isaac Bostwick ; Lieut. Hulbutt ; Ensign Amos Bostwick ; 
Sergts. Gideon Noble, Simeon Porter, Simon Mills, Elisha Bost- 
wick, Sowl. Barnum ; Corps. Samuel Bennett, Harmon White, 
Ebenezer Barnum, Seth Hall; Drummers Eleazor Hendrix, 
Calvin Pease ; Fifers Nathan Avery, Theodore Baldwin, David 
Roch; Privates Nathan Avery, Theodore Baldwin, David 
Beach, Elizur Bostwick, Joseph Bates, Jonathan Brown, Reu- 
ben Bellamy, Ashel Case, John D. Comstalk, Timothy Cole. 
Aaron Curtis, Hcdckiah Clerk, Thadeus Cole, Charles Chapen, 
Joseph Clerk, Ashacl Dean, Jeremiah Douchcy, David Everist, 
James Gates, John Green, Hedakiah Gray, Daniel Grinnel, 
Amaziah Griswold, Joseph Hawley, Levit How, William Hale, 
Abner Kelsey, John Lewis, Simeon Lyman, David Lyon, Joseph 
Murray, Samuel Millar, Ruben Mager, Josiah INIunger, Ruben 
Philips, Rufus Partridge, Howard E. Prince, Jeruel Philips, 
Phineas Palmer, John Smith, Cordeal Smith, Isaac Smith, Caleb 
Swetland, Job Tousley, Ruben Taylor, Absolem Taylor, Gama- 
liel Terrey, Benjamin Tliomas, John Walter, Thomas Wood- 
ward, Cornelius Whitney, Samuel Waters. 

Men who crossed the Delaware with Capt. Isaac Bostwick 
of New Milford, December 25, 1776, and were in the battle 
of Trenton and the succeeding battle of Princeton, January 
3, 1777 : Lieuts. Hulbutt, Elisha Bostwick ; Sergts. Brownson, 
Beach ; Ensign Amos Bostwick ; Corps. Thayer, Grover, Bell ; 
Drummer Gunn ; Fifer Humstead ; Privates Jeptha Barthol- 
omew, Luther Bartholomew, Isaac Brownson, Moses Camp, 
Moses Canfield, William Cressey, Jonathan Crittenden, Heza- 
kiah Clark, Jonathan Davidson, Francis Fields, Aaron Foot. 
Moses Hurd, Robert Nichols, George Norton, Elisha Phiney, 
Ruben Pitcher, Asa Prince, Wills Sherwood, John Turrill. 

Officers and men from New Milford who served in the Sixth 
Company of the Fourth Regiment, Continental Line: Capt. 
Josiah Starr ; Sergt. John Stevens ; Privates Oliver Bostwick, 
Josiah Buck, Dar. Barns, William Beal, Asa Beal, Michael 
Beach, Amos Beach, Jas. Brown, Josiah Brooks, Herman 



New Milford in the Wars 51 

Smith, Ephram Alderman, Domini Douglass, Jabes Frizbee, 
Oring Ferriss, Elihu Grant, Levi Hunt, Christo. Hington, Geo. 
Lummis, Eben Lewis, Jcre McCarte, Nathan Nichols, Oliver 
Phelps, Jos. Phelps, Lemuel Peete, Timoth. Stanley, Benajah 
Smith, Geo. A. Smith, John Seeley, Nathl. Stewart, Enos Scott, 
Zimri Skinner, Joseph Thair, John TufF, Ezekiel Towner, Lem 
Walter, Jos. Wordcn, Amos Mc'Kinnee, Robt. Brown, William 
Drinkwater, Jonathan Mayo. 

New Milford men who served in Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah 
Starr's Regiment, Connecticut Line: Lieut. Col. Josiah Starr, 
Comd. Reg. and Co. ; Lieuts. Augustine Thayer, James Bennett ; 
Ensign Josiah Buck; Sergt. Oliver Bostwick; Privates Caleb 
Maxfield, Leef Sanford, Eleazor Hendricks, Ebenezer Bost- 
wick, Solomon Bostwick, David Cole, Prince Crosley, Leverus 
Hawley, Samuel Hubble, Prime Hubble, Sep Hubble, Titus 
Heart, Stephen Headges, James Higgins, William Handy, Ira 
Hotchkis, Benjamin Heart, Aaron Hall, Ely Nichols, Robert 
Nichols, Samuel Nettleton, Holan Nettleton, Samuel Phillips, 
Jurel Phillips, Elijah Parker, Elab Parker, Nehimiah Piffany. 

New Milford men who were in Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Can- 
field's Regiment of Connecticut Militia, at West Point, in 1781 : 
Lieut-Col. Sanmcl Canficld, comd. ; Quartermaster Jonah Bald- 
win ; Surgeon Dr. George Hurd ; Capt. Ebenezer Couch, Comd. 
Co.; Privates Ruben Brownson, Elijah Hoyt, John Case, An- 
drew Merwin, Stephen Bennett, Benjamin Mead, Ebenezer 
Couch, Jr., Asa Read, Simeon Taylor, David Merwin, Henry 
Straight, Ruben Hurlbut. 

New Milford men who served in Connecticut Regiment of 
Pioneers: Colonel Judthon Baldwin; Capt. Daniel Pendleton, 
Comd. of Co. in which the New Milford men were engaged ; 
Sergt. David Porter; Privates Jessie Cole, John Eggleston, 
Isaac Turrill, Jonathan Wilkinson, Ashael Turrill, James 
Bradshaw, John Turner, Lyman Mott, Samuel Oviatt, Abel 
Wilkenson, Isaac Mott, Samuel Turner. 

New Milford men who served in Col. Moses Hazen's Regi- 
ment, Connecticut Militia : Capt. Jeremiah Parmelie's Co. : 
Michael Welch, Jabes Tomlinson, 



52 The Past and Present 

New Milford men who served in the Fifth Troop, Shelden's 
Dragoons : Sergt. Liff'e Sanf ord, David Buell. 

New Milford men who served in Second Regiment, Connec- 
ticut Line: Col. Herman Swift; in Capt. Samuel Comstalk's 
Co., Squire Davenport; in Capt. Richard's Co., Ezerah Can- 
field, David Cole ; in Capt. Belden's Co., David Johnson, Moses 
Scott, Mathew Stewart. 

A company of forty volunteers was raised in the towns of 
New Milford, Newtown, and Danbury, in December, 1776. The 
officers were: Capt. Benjamin Brownson, Lieut. Shadrack 
Hubble, Ensign Benjamin Seeley. The names of the privates 
are not given in the records. 

In General David Waterbury's State Regiment, Captain 
Charles Smith's Company, were the following New Milford 
men : Sergt. Josiah Barnes ; Drummer Eleazer Hendricks ; 
Fifer Oliver Mead; Privates Nathan Murray, Benton Buck, 
John Ingersol, Achillies Comstalk, Amos Canfield, Daniel 
Davis, Jonathan Beecher, Isaac Utter, Mingo Treat, John 
Warner, Jonathan Jessup. 

In Lieutenant John Phelps' Troop of Horse was Private 
Nathaniel Canfield of New Milford. 

In Colonel Benjamin Hinman's Fourth Regiment, Conti- 
nental Line, Sixth Company, Capt. Josiah Starr, were the fol- 
lowing New Milford men: Sergt. John Stevens; Privates 
Oliver Bostwick, Herman Smith, Asa Brownson, Josiah Brooks, 
Ephraim Alderman, Josiah Buck. 

In Colonel Herman Swift's Second Regiment, Continental 
Line, in Captain Kimberly's Company, served from January 
until June, 1783, the following New Milford men: Sergeants 
Charles McDonald, Ebinezer Bostwick; Drummer Job Haw- 
kins ; Privates Isaac Lockwood, Bostwick Ruggles, and John 
McCoy. 

The following New Milford men served under Lieutenant 
Colonel Canfield in the Try on invasion: Benjamin Stone, 
Nathaniel Barnes, William Cogswell, Ebenezer Couch, Noble 
Hine, Ruben Bostwick, Adam Hurlburt. 

The members of the Society of Cincinnati from New Mil- 



New Milford in the Wars 53 

ford were Colonel Josiah Starr, Lieutenant James Bennett, 
and Lieutenant David Beach. 

THE WAR OF 1812 

The list of men from New Milford who served in the regular 
army during the War of 1812, taken from the rolls of the 
Adjutant General's office, is as follows: 

Lieutenant Thomas Weller ; Privates, Hedekiah Baldwin, 
Theopholus Baldwin, Joseph C. Barnes, Rufus Beeman, Sam- 
uel Bunnel, Charles H. Crampton, Kneeland Edwards, Philo 
Gregory, Joseph Hawley, Stephen Hawley, Abram Hunt, 
Warren Hyde, Ithamer Lane, Benjamin Lee, James Lee, 
Stephen Lyon, Seth Nelson, Ebinezer Reynolds, John Saxton, 
Stephen Scignor, Caleb Shclden, Peleg Slocum, Levi Smith, 
Eliakim Stow, Samuel Summers, Jonathan Tharrs, Benjamin 
Warner, Harry Wakelee, William S. Wakelee, Thomas W. 
Way, Squire Whitney, Shelden Wooden. 

The War Records of Connecticut do not give the places 
from which the Militia and Volunteers came, so it is impossible 
to tell exactly how many New Milford men participated in 
the war. The names of Baldwin, Barnes, Bartholomew, Bas- 
sett. Beech, Buck, Buell, Bostwick, Booth, Canfield, Comstock, 
Noble, Starr, Taylor, Turrill, and many other New Milford 
names are upon the rolls, but just how many are to be credited 
to the town it is impossible to say. 

THE MEXICAN WAR 

The names of the men from New Milford who served in the 
Mexican War, taken from the rolls of the Adjutant General's 
office, were : 

Henry Burrhants, Sherman Crosby, Albert Morey, Abner 
M. Philips, Ruben W. Phillips, Warren S. Tenbrok, James 
Schemmerhorn. 

Two other men from the town were, I believe, in that war: 
Henry Soul, son of John Soul, who lived at the point of 
Buck's Rocks, and Charles Ford, who afterwards served in 
the war of 1861. 



54i The Past and Present 



THE CIVIL WAR 



Allen, Charles J., Mus. Co. I, 8th Inft., Dis. Disa., R. E. 

Co. D, 28th Inft., deserted. 

Allen, William, Pvt. Co. A, 8th Inft., deserted. 

Anderson, Charles F., Sergt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Atkins, James, Pvt. Co. D, 6th Inft. 

Bailey, Andrew E., Mus. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Bailey, Joseph A., Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Baldwin, David A., Pvt. and Lt. Co. I, 8th Inft. 

Baldwin, Francis E., Mus. 4th Penn. Cav. 

Banker, Miles N., wagoner, Co. E, 12th Inft. 

Banker, Philo, Pvt. Co. I, 13th Inft, R. E. V. Co. B, died 
in service May 6, 1865. 

Bartram, Andrew, Pa t. Co. I, 17th Inft., deserted. 

Bartram, Ashbel E., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., Dis. Disa. 

Bartram, Charles E., Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Bartram, Charles M., Pvt. Co. I, 14th Inft., missing at 
Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, supposed dead. 

Bartram, Ferdinand, Mus. 4th Penn. Cav. 

Bartram, Oscar F., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., Dis. Disa. 

Beardsley, Daniel S., Petty Off. U. S. Navy. 

Beeman, Charles E., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Beeman, John A., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Beeman, Rufus, Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Benedict, William E., Pvt. Co. C, 17th Inft., died at Folly 
Island, S. C, Nov. 17, 1863. 

Bennett, George D., Pvt. Co. I, 2d h. Art. 

Bemus, Charles F., Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft., killed at Port 
Hudson, La., June 14, 1863. 

Bennoit, Antone, Pvt. Corp. and Sergt. Co. H, 11th Inft. 

Birch, George, Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., killed at Sharpsburg, 
Md., Sept. 17, 1863. 

Bishop, Orange P., Pvt. Co. I, 11th Inft., deserted Apr. 4, 
1863. 

Booth, Charles M., Mus. Band 4th Penn. Cav., Lt. Co. D, 
28th Inft. 

Booth, Henry, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 



r 

^'«^.' '^e^ 

jr 







CHARLES D. BLIXX 

Colonel of 13th Conn. Vols. 



New Milford in the Wars 55 

Breen, John, Pvt. Co. K, 15th Inft., Trans, to Co. K, 7th 
Inft., Sub. 

Briggs, Daniel, Pvt. Co. D, 13th Inft., R. E., Pvt. Co. K, 
2d h. Art., Dis. Disa., May 4, 1862, Wd. Cedar Creek, Oct. 
19, 1864. 

Bingham, Charles, Pvt. Co. D, 6th Inft., Sub., deserted 
Nov. 9, 1864. 

Bright, John, Pvt. Co. A, 7th Inft., Sub., deserted March 
23, 1865. 

Breunel, Charles, Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Dis. Disa. May 
29, 1865. 

Bronson, Andrew A., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., deserted Aug. 
11, 1865. 

Bronson, Doctor, Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Bronson, Charles R., Pvt. Co. C, 3d Inft. 

Bronson, Francis H., Pvt. 14th Reg. Inft., U. S. A. 

Bronson, Wilham N., Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft., died in service 
July 28, 1863. 

Brown, Jackson J., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft. 

Brush, Joseph, Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft. 

Buck, Andrew N., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., Dis. Disa. May 11, 
1862. 

Buckingham, Andrew, Sergt, Co. I, 11th Inft., Dis. Disa. 
Oct. 24, 1862. 

Buckingham, Clark, Band 4th Penn. Cav. 

Buckingham, Earl, Band Leader, 2d Lieut. 4th Penn. Cav. 

Buckingham, Irwin C, Corp. and Sergt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., 
Wd. Oct. 19, 1864, Cedar Creek, Va., Dis. Disa. May 23, 
1865. 

Buckingham, Orlo H., Mus. and Corp. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Burk, Joseph, Pvt. Co. A, 10th Inft., Sub., deserted June 
15, 1865. 

Burke, Nicholas, Pvt. Co. M, 2d h. Art., deserted March 25, 
1865. 

Burns, Edward C, Pvt. Co. C, 8th Inft., Sub., deserted to 
enemy March 21, 1865. 

Burr, Thomas, Pvt, Co. B, 29th Inft., Col'd., Dis. Disa. May 
28, 1864. 



56 The Past and Present 

Cady, Cyrell, Pvt. Co. I, 11th Inft., Dishon. Disc. Dec. 
28, 1863. 

Caldwell, Smith P., Pvt. Co. K, IStli Inft., Dis. Disa. Jan. 
19, 1863. 

Calnen, Thomas, Pvt. Co. F, 2d h. Art. 

Camp, Edwin, Pvt. Co. D, 28tli Inft. 

Camp, Edwm T., Pvt. Co. C, 13th Inft., Dis. Disa. Feb. 
17, 1863. 

Campbell, James, Pvt. Co. A, 5th Inft. 

Canfield, William E., Pvt. and Corp. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Carman, George, Pvt. Co. C, 5th Inft., Sub., deserted Nov. 
1, 1863. 

Carpenter, George E., Sergt. Co. F, 29th Inft., Col'd., Dis. 
Disa. May 21, 1864. 

Carroll, Edward, Pvt. Co. H, 5th Inft., deserted from 14th 
Inft. March 29, 1863 ; Sub., deserted Oct. 5, 1864. 

Clark, Titus, Corp. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Cleggett, Louis A., Corp. Co. K, 29th Inft., Col'd., died 
Dec. 25, 1864, Point of Rocks, Va. 

Cole, Ferdinand, Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., deserted July 
27, 1865. 

Cole, Henry S., Pvt. Co. D, 7th Inft., deserted Nov. 11, 
1864. 

Cole, Hobert, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Conlon, John, Pvt. Co. K, 14th Inft., Dis. Disa. Dec. 12, 
1863. 

Conley, Daniel, Pvt. Co. K, 2d h. Art., Dis. Disa. May 11, 
1864. 

Copley, George D., Band 4th Penn. Cav. 

Corcoran, WilHam, Pvt. Co. D, 20th Inft., Sub., deserted 
Oct. 5, 1864. 

Conkwright, Alexander, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft., died July 
13, 1863, at Barancas, Fla. 

Cummings, James P., Pvt. Co. G, 28th Inft. 

Disbrow, David B., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., R. E., Pvt. Co. 
H, 2d, h. Art., Dis. Disa. Jan. 15, 1863. 

Disbrow, Henry S., Corp. Co. I, 8th Inft. 



New Milford in the Wars 57 

Disbrow, William E., Corp. Co, H, 2d h. Art. 

Dix, William, Pvt. Co. E, 8th Inft., Sub., shot for desertion 
Jan. 8, 1865. 

Doane, Edward, Corp. Co. D, 13th Inft., Dis. Disa. 

Dodge, Robert, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft., injured at Port 
Hudson, La., July, 1863. 

Driscoll, Cornelius, Pvt. Co. G, 1st Reg. Cav., Sub., deserted 
July 1, 1865. 

Dubois, Hiram, Corp. Co. K, 2d h. Art. 

Dunham, Benjamin F., Pvt. and Corp. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Durand, William, Pvt. Co. I, 11th Inft., Sub., deserted 
Aug. 25, 1865. 

Dutcher, William P., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., Wd. May 7, 
1864, Walthall June, Va., Dis. Disa. July 15, 1865. 

Erwin, George S., Corp. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Erwin, Robert, Reg. Qm. Sergt. and Co. Qm. Sergt. Co. H, 
2d h. Art., Wd. Oct. 19, 1864, at Cedar Creek, Va. 

Evans, James H., wagoner Co. C, 13th Inft. 

Evits, Oliver B., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Farrel, John, Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., Sub., deserted Feb. 18, 
1865. 

Farrell, William, Pvt. Co. A, 6th Inft., Sub. 

Ferris, Hilliard, Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., died in New Milford 
July 27, 1862. 

Ferris, Jay, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft., died at New Orleans, 
La., June 1, 1863. 

Ferris, John, Pvt. Co. C, 13th Inft. 

Ferris, Robert, Corp. Co. I, 8th Inft., killed at Sharpsburg, 
Md., Sept. 17, 1862. 

Ferris, Stephen, 1st Sergt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Finn, John, Pvt. Co. I, 10th Inft., Sub. 

Fisher, James, Pvt. Co. I, 14th Inft., Sub., deserted Aug. 
14, 1864. 

Ford, Aaron N., Mus. Co. D, 28th Inft., died at Brashier 
City, La., May 22, 1863. 

Ford, Charles, Mus. Co. I, 8th Inft., Dis. Disa. 

Franklin, Henry J., Pvt. Co. K, 29th Inft., Col'd. 



68 The Past and Present 

French, Francis L., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Fuller, Alfred E., Mus. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Garhck, Charles, Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., Wd. at Antietam, 
Md., Sept. 17, 1862. 

Gaylord, Charles H., Sergt. and 1st Sergt. Co. C, 13th Inft. 

Goodsell, Jerome, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft., deserted Nov. 
16, 1862. 

Graves, Franklin S., Corp. Co. B, 2d h. Art. 

Green, George A., Pvt. Co. K, 28th Inft. 

Gregg, John, Pvt. Co. H, 5th Inft. 

Gregory, Charles B., Corp. Co. D, 28th Inft., died at Baton 
Rouge, La., July 30, 1863. 

Gridley, Henry S., Corp. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Wd. Oct. 19, 
1864, Cedar Creek, Va. 

Griffin, Edward, Pvt. Co. K, 2d h. Art., killed June 1, 1864, 
at Cold Harbor, Va. 

Harrington, George W., Pvt. Co. K, 2d h. Art., died Feb. 
25, 1864, at Alexandria, Va. 

Hartwell, WilHs, Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., died Oct. 28, 1864, 
at Martinsburgh, Va. 

Hatch, Calvin B., Sergt. and Lieut. Co. A, 2d h. Art., killed 
at Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864. 

Heacock, Richard, Pvt. Co. K, 29th Inft., Col'd. 

Healy, James, Pvt. Co. A, 10th Inft., Sub. 

Hess, Christian, Pvt. Co. G, 10th Inft. 

Higgins, John, Pvt. Co. I, 5th Inft., Sub., deserted Oct. 
1, 1863. 

Hill, Samuel R., Pvt. and Corp. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Hine, Frederick R., Pvt. Co., 11th Inft., died Feb. 1, 1864, 
at Alexandria, Va. 

Hoag, David D., Capt. Co. D, 28th Inft., killed at Port 
Hudson, June 14, 1863. 

Hoag, George W., Pvt. Co. I, 6th Inft., V^d. at Drewry's 
BlufF, Va., May 16, 1864. 

Hodge, Homer W., Pvt. Co. K, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Cold 
Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864. 

Hoffman, Herman, Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 



New Milfobd in the Wabs 59 

Hoyt, Charles A., Pvt. Co. K, 2d h. Art., VVd. at Cold 
Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864. 

Hoyt, Denman, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Hoyt, Henry R., Corp. and 1st Sergt. Co. H, 2d h. 
Art. 

Hoyt, Horatio S., Pvt. Sergt, and 1st Sergt. Co. H, 2d h. 
Art. 

Hunt, Gideon L., Pvt. Co. G, 23d Inft. 

Hunt, Merritt, Mus. Co. G, 28th Inft. 

Hurd, Charles A., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Cedar 
Creek, Va., Oct. 19, 1864. 

Hurd, Robert B., Pvt. and Corp. Co. E, 1st h. Art., de- 
serted July 28, 1865. 

Hutchinson, John, Pvt. Co. I, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Cold Har- 
bor, Va., June 1, 1864, at Cedar Creek, Va., Oct. 19, 1864. 

Irwin, Charles N., Sergt. and Lieut. Cos. I and E, 8th Inft., 
Wd. at Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862, killed at Chapin's Farm, 
Va., Sept. 29, 1864, he having Vol. to remain for that battle 
after Exp. of his term of service. 

Jacklin, Philip H., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., died at Newbern, 
N. C, Sept. 23, 1862. 

Jackson, Charles W., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., kiUed at Cold 
Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864. 

Jackson, Henry F., Pvt. and Corp. Co. C, 29th Inft., Col'd. 

Janks, August, Pvt. Co. B, 11th Inft., Sub., deserted Sept. 
6, 1865. 

Jennings, Alvin H., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft. 

Jennings, David J., Pvt. Co. A, 2d h. Art. 

Jennings, Jay, Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., Dis. Disa. Dec. 11, 
1862. 

Jones, Horace E., Pvt. and Corp. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Judson, Charles, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft., died, Aug. 10, 
1863. 

Karge, Earnest, Pvt. Co. C, 11th Inft., Sub. 

Kinney, Andrew S., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art,, Dis. Disa. 
Feb. 6, 1863. 

Knowles, David W., saddler Co. C, 1st Cav. 



60 The Past and Present 

Lake, David, Corp. and Sergt. Co. I, 8th Inft., killed at 
Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862. 

Lampson, Charles E., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Lampson, Frederick G., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., R. E. Pvt. 
Co. C, 2d h. Art., Dis. Disa. Feb. 3, 1863. 

Lampson, William, Pvt. Co. G, 28th Inft., died July 21, 
1863, at Port Hudson, La. 

Lapoint, Joseph, Pvt. Co. E, 6th Inft, 

Lathrop, Herman S., Pvt. Co. A, 2d h. Art. 

Lathrop, Orrin F., Pvt. Co. F, 6th Inft. 

Lathrop, WiUiam G., Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Law, Sidney A., Pvt. and Corp. Co. K, 2d h. Art., died Jan. 
29, 1865. 

Lawrence, Thomas, Pvt. Co. E, 8th Inft., Trans, to Co. 
A, 10th Inft., Sub. 

Lefever, Adolph, Pvt. Co. D, 10th Inft., Wd. at Ft. Gregg, 
Va., Apr. 2, 1865. 

Logan, Frederick J., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Dis. Disa. Apr. 
12, 1863. 

Logan, George E., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., died at Weavers- 
town, Md., Nov. 15, 1862. 

Leverage, Joseph R., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., died at Wash- 
ington, Sept. 12, 1864. 

Leverage, Remus, Mus. Band 4th Penn. Cav. 

Leverage, Romulus C, Sergt. and Lieut. Cos. H and B, 
2d h. Art. 

Leveridge, Royal T., Pvt. Co. E, 1st h. Art. 

Lyon, Edward F., Corp., Sergt., and 1st Sergt. Co. H., 2d 
h. Art. 

Lyon, James, Pvt. Co. D, 1st h. Art., Sub., deserted May 
21, 1865. 

MaUett, Henry W., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Winches- 
ter, Va., Sept. 19, 1864. 

Malloy, Wilham, Pvt. Co. L, 2d h. Art., died Aug. 22, 
1864. 

Marsh, Albert N., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Marsh, Charles N., Corp. Co. D, 1st Cav., Wd. and Cap. 



New Milford in the Wars 61 

at Gordonsville, Va., Aug. 7, 1862, Cap. at Thoroughfare 
Gap, Oct. 7, 1862, awarded Medal of Honor. 

Marsh, Daniel E., 1st Sergt. and Lieut. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Marsh, Decater D., Corp. Co. D, 28th Inft., died at Baran- 
cas, Fla., Apr. 12, 1863. 

Marsh, Edward W., 2d Lieut. Co. H, and Capt. Co, M, 
2d h. Art. 

Marsh, George W., on Orcutt's Rolls as being from New 
Milford, but on the Conn. Offl. Rolls, as a deserter from Co. 
A, 7th Inft., and a Sub. from Southbury, and as an unassigned 
recruit to 18th 111., who failed to report. 

Marsh, Irwin G., Band 4th Penn. Cav. 

Marsh, Philip G., Pvt. Co. I, 5th U. S. Art., on Orcutt's 
Rolls, not on Conn. Rolls. 

McBath, David, Pvt. Co. A, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Cold Har- 
bor, Va., June 1, 1864. 

McHenry, Hugh, Pvt. Co. A, 1st h. Art., Sub., deserted 
July 29, 1865. 

McKeagany, William, Pvt. Co. C, 1st h. Art., Sub., deserted 
July 10, 1865. 

McLoy, John, Pvt. Co. C, 8th Inft., Sub., deserted Jan. 15, 
1865. 

McMahon, Joseph, Pvt. Co. G, 28th New York Inft., Sergt. 
Co. A., 2d M. R. of N. Y., died in Serv. in N. M., July 17, 
1864. 

McMahon, Michael, Pvt. Co. F, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Peters- 
burg, Va., Aug. 31, 1864. 

McMahon, Michael, 3d, Pvt. Co. F, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Win- 
chester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864. 

Mehan, John, Pvt. Co. H, 11th Inft., Sub., deserted, con- 
fined, escaped. 

Meney, Francis, Pvt. Co. A, 13th Inft., Sub., Wd. at Win- 
chester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864, deserted Oct. 31, 1864. 

Merwin, Garwood R., Sergt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., died Jan. 
25, 1863, at Alexandria, Va. 

Mintsch, John L., Pvt., Co. D, 28th Inft. and Pvt. Co. A, 
2d h. Art. 



62 The Past and Present 

Monroe, Kdward, Pvt. Co. Iv, J^d h. Art., Dis. Disa. Jan. 
25, 1864. 

Monroe, John, Pvt. Co. A, 11th Inft., Sub., Dis. Disa. Nov. 

11, 1865. 

Moore, Frank, Pvt. Co. I, 10th Inft., Sub., deserted March 
8, 1865. 

Morehouse, Frank, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Morehouse, Lyman F., Pvt. Co. A, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Cold 
Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864, Dis. Disa. June 21, 1865. 

Morehouse, Henry S., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Morgan, William, Pvt. Co. C, 5th Inft., Sub., deserted Nov. 
1, 1863. 

Morrison, William E. L., Sergt. and Pvt. Co. I, 29th Inft. 
Col'd., Wd. at Kell House, Va., Oct. 27, 1864, died Nov. 

12, 1864. 

Mosher, James D., Corp. Co. C, 13th Inft., died at Brasier 
City, La., Aug. 6, 1863. 

Mosher, Lewis W., Corp. and Sergt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., 
Wd. at Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864, Dis. Disa. May 
24, 1865. 

Munson, John, Pvt. Co. K, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Cold Harbor, 
June 1, 1864, died from wounds, Aug. 30, 1864. 

Murphy, Michael, Pvt. Co. C, 5th Inft., Sub., deserted Nov. 
1, 1863. 

Nichols, Ezra L., Pvt. Co. K, 29th Lift., Col'd. 

Nichols, Orlando, Pvt. Co. G, 10th Inft., Sub. 

Noble, Andrew B., Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Noble, Henry C, Corp. and Sergt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Dis. 
Disa. Feb. 4, 1865. 

Northrope, Lawrence, Mus. Band 4th Penn. Cav. 

O'Callaghan, Timothy O., Pvt. Co. F, 2d h. Art., killed at 
Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864. 

Odell, John, Pvt. Co. C, 13th Inft. 

O'Niel, William, Pvt. Co. E, 10th Inft., killed at Fort Gregg, 
Va., Apr. 2, 1865. 

Parkes, Joseph P., Sergt. and 1st Sergt. Co. A, 2d h. Art., 
killed at Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864. 



New Milford in the Wabs 63 

Phillips, Chester, Pvt. Co. K, 29th Inft., Col'd., killed at 
Petersburg, Sept. 23, 1864. 

Phillips, Henry, Pvt. Co. I, 11th Inft., deserted Dec. 16, 
1861. 

Pike, Luther M., Corp. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Plumb, Alonzo, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft., died Aug. 21, 1863. 

Plumb, Harvey G., Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Plumb, Henry, Surgeon 2d h. Art. 

Plumb, Harvey G., Pvt. Co. I, 123d New York Vol. 

Potter, George D., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Potter, George H., Corp. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Purdy, Charles, Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., Wd. at Fort Huger, 
Va., Apr. 19, 1863, Dis. Disa., Apr. 4, 1864. 

Randolph, Harvey J., Pvt. Co. K, 29th Inft., Col'd. 

Read, Herbert H., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Pris. at Ford's 
Mills, Va., June 14, 1864, died in Anders on ville, Ga., July 3, 
1864. 

Rice, Levi, Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., appears on Orcutt's Rolls, 
but not on Government Rolls. 

Roach, Thomas, Pvt. Co. D, 8th Inft., Sub., deserted Dec. 
2, 1864. 

Roberts, Andrew, Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., died at Newbern, 
N. C, Apr. 1, 1862. 

Roberts, Henry M., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., died at Newbern, 
N. C, Apr. 6, 1862. 

Roberts, William J., 1st Lieut, and Capt. Co. I, 8th Inft., 
V^d. at Fort Harrison, Va., Sept. 29, 1864, Dis. Jan. 31, 
1865. 

Rogers, Austin V., Pvt. Co. K, 2d h. Art. 

Root, Nathan H., Corp. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Ruby, Eli, Pvt. Co. D, 13th Inft., Dis. Disa. Sept. 29, 
1862. 

Ruby, George M., Pvt. Co. D, 13th Inft., deserted Aug. 
27, 1864. 

Sanford, Isaac L., Pvt. Co. A, 2d h. Art. 

Savage, Edward P., Pvt. Co. G, 8th Inft., deserted Aug. 
19, 1865. 



64, The Past and Present 

Shultz, Myron, Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., Dis. Disa. Feb. 24, 
1863. 

Sherman, Lucius S., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Cedar 
Creek, Va., Oct. 19, 1864. 

Sherwood, Asahel, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Sherwood, Reuben H., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Schook, Louis, Pvt. Co. E, 8th Inft., Sub., deserted July 
24, 1864. 

Shove, Henry, Sergt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Smith, Charles H., Corp. Co. K, 11th Inft., Sub. 

Smith, Wilham, 1st, Pvt. Co. F, 10th Inft. 

Soule, David E., Corp. Co. H, Lieut. Co. F, 2d h. Art. 

Soule, Henry, Band 4th Penn. Cav. 

Sparks, Edwin, Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft. 

Spengler, Edward, Pvt. Co. E, 8th Inft., Sub., killed at 
Fort Harrison, Va., Sept. 29, 1864. 

Stephens, Edgar, Pvt. Co. K, 2d h. Art. 

Stephens, Henry L., Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Stephenson, William, Pvt. Co. A, 5th Inft., Sub., deserted 
July 11, 1865. 

Sterling, Homer, Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Dis. Disa., Apr, 
18, 1864. 

Stevens, Franklin B., Pvt. Co. B, 2d h. Art., killed at Cold 
Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864. 

Stevens, George, Pvt. Co. E, 6th Inft., Sub. 

Stevens, Wilham H., Pvt. Co. K, 2d h. Art., Wd. Cold Har- 
bor, Va., June 1, 1864, Dis. Disa., June 6, 1865. 

Stokes, Henry, Pvt. Co. A, 5th Inft., Dis, Disa. Jan. 30, 
1862. 

Talhnan, Martin N., Corp. Co. K, 29th Inft., Col'd. 

Tarr, James, Pvt. Co. E, 11th Inft., Sub., deserted July 
7, 1865. 

Taylor, Joseph, Pvt., Corp., and Sergt. Co. C, 13th Inft. 

Thayer, Edward A., Pvt. Co. B, 20th Inft., deserted Sept. 
29, 1862. 

Thayer, John Q., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft. 

Thompson, Edward E., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 



New Milford in the Wars 65 

Tibbetts, Charles E., 2d and 1st Lieut. Co. C, 13th Inft. 

Treat, Frederick M., Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft., Wd. at Port 
Hudson, La., June 14, 1863. 

Turrill, Henry S., 1st Lieut, and Asst. Surg. 17th Inft., 
Cap. and held Pris. in Macon, Savannah, and Charleston. 

Van Anden, William, Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft. 

Vanderwater, William G., Pvt. Co. H, 13th Inft., Wd. at 
Irish Bend, La., Apr. 14, 1863. 

Van Lone, Peter, Pvt. Co. D, 8th Inft., Sub. 

Vorey, Charles, Pvt. Co. D, 11th Inft. 

Walden, Edward, Pvt. Co. F, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Winches- 
ter, Va., Sept. 19, 1864. 

Walker, Albert, Pvt. Co. D, 7th Inft., died on Morris Island, 
S. C, Sept. 18, 1863. 

Warner, Wilham C, Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., died at Wash- 
ington, D. C, Dec. 23, 1862. 

Waters, Alexander, Pvt. Co. C, 3d Inft. 

Waters, Frank, Pvt. Co. G, 17th Inft., Sub. 

Way, Charles A., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Winches- 
ter, Va., Sept. 19, 1864, at Salors Creek, Va., Apr. 6, 1865. 

Welch, Patrick, 1st, Pvt. Co. F, 8th Inft., Trans, to U. S. 
Navy. 

Weller, Chester A., Band 4th Penn. Cav., Pvt. Co. H, 2d 
h. Art. 

Wentworth, Jacob, Pvt. Co. K, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Cold 
Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864, died June 20, 1864. 

Wenzenger, Daniel, Pvt. Co. B, 8th Inft., Sub., killed at 
Ft. Harrison, Va., Sept. 29, 1864. 

Wiedmore, Paul, Pvt. Co. D, 8th Inft., Sub., deserted Sept. 
10, 1863. 

Wiley, James, Pvt. Co. D, 8th Inft., Sub. deserted Dec. 1, 
1863. 

Wilhams, Burr, Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art., Dis. Disa. March 
27, 1865. 

Wilhams, George S., Capt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Williams, James, Pvt. Co. A, 5th Inft., deserted Oct. 3, 
1863. 



66 The Past and Present 

Williams, John F., Pvt. Co. H, 2d h. Art. 

Wilson, John, Pvt. Co. C, 20th Inft., Sub., deserted Oct. 
5, 1864. 

Wentworth, Hiram, Pvt. 1st Conn. Lt. Batt., deserted Jan. 
24, 1862. 

Wooden, Charles E., Pvt. Co. D, 28th Inft., Wd. at Port 
Hudson, La., June 14, 1863, died of wounds, July 17, 1863. 

Woodruff, Theron M., Pvt. Co. I, 2d h. Art., Wd. at Cedar 
Creek, Va., Oct. 19, 1864. 

Worden, Richard T., Pvt. Co. I, 8th Inft., killed at Walthall 
June, Va., May 7, 1864. 

Recapitulation : Number of men credited to New Milf ord, 
282 ; killed in battle, 17 ; wounded in action, 34 ; died in 
service, 35 ; discharged for disability, 33 ; deserted, 44 ; dis- 
honorably discharged, 1 ; shot for desertion, 1. Casualties, 
honorable, 119; dishonorable 46; total 165. 

There were thirty-seven drafted men and substitutes credited 
to the town ; of these, twenty-seven deserted, leaving seventeen 
as the number of the town's volunteers to desert their colors, 
and most of these were of foriegn birth. 

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 

Walter Campbell. Andrew Nichols. 

Wesley Collins. Cyrus Northrop. 

Gabriel Erwin. Albert Piper. 

George Isaac Hine. Albert Timms. 

Charles A. Hull. Walter Thompson. 

Charles Kellogg. Arthur Wheeler. 
Walter Wheeler. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF OLD NEW MILFORD HOMES 

Contributed by Alice Merwik Bostwick 

Indelibly stamped on my memory are pictures of the old 
homes of my ancestors, and the simple life within them, in 
which it was my privilege to share in early childhood. These 
houses, built before the Revolutionary War, were of the " salt 
box " style, two stories high except at the back, where the 
roof sloped from the steep gables down so low that my grand- 
father, a tall man, had to bow his head to go under the eaves 
into the stoop. This made windows necessary on but three 
sides of a house, and was designed to evade the heavy tax on 
every pane of glass used. The shrewd colonist preferred to 
have less light, rather than add to the King's revenue. Every 
stick of timber was oak from the forest primeval, felled and 
hewed by the strong arms of the men who, with stout hearts, 
braved the perils and hardships of the wilderness for their 
altars and homes. Every shingle was " rived out " by hand. 
The laths, window sashes, doors, handles and latches, hinges 
and nails, were all hand-wrought. 

How well our forefathers builded, these old houses, still 
standing in good habitable condition, after braving the sum- 
mer suns, winter winds, and storms of more than a century and 
a half, bear witness. The great stone chimney was a tower 
of strength from its foundation in the cellar, fifteen feet 
square, up to the garret, strong as granite rocks could make 
it. It anchored the heavy beams and roof timbers, giving 
ample space for the many fireplaces needed in the large rooms 
growing around it. The kitchen fireplace was like those we 
read of, but seldom see. At one side of the crane was a bench 
where I, as a child, often sat watching the building of the 
fire — a work of skill. The big green back-log was first 
rolled in; then, the back-stick, fore-stick, chips and kindlings 
were added — a veritable woodpile, which, when kindled by the 

67 



68 The Past and Present 

aid of the bellows, sent sparks and flame crackling and roar- 
ing up the cavernous chimney. 

There may have been much poetry in " the hanging of the 
crane." There surely was much prose in cooking for a family, 
in pots and kettles hung on its hooks and trammels, over the 
burning coals and smoke. Long-handled frying pans, spiders, 
skillets, turnspits, bake kettles, and Dutch ovens would be 
unknown quantities to graduates from modern cooking schools ; 
but they, with all their science and new appliances, cannot 
surpass the savory dishes evolved by our grandmothers from 
the limited means at their command, with the aid of these same 
out-of-date utensils. 

From out the arch-roofed old brick ovens came famous 
loaves of rye and Indian bread, biscuits, pans of pork and 
beans, cards of gingerbread, seed cookies, election and pound 
cakes, baked as none of our ranges can ever bake. They had 
a flavor all their own, a color golden-brown as the fallen 
autumn leaves of the maple trees, whose " fair white hearts " 
went up in smoke out of the doorway, while the long-handled 
iron peel spread the glowing coals over the worn floor of the 
old oven. 

Those were not days of ease and idleness. From sun-up till 
sun-down, there was work for each and all, indoors and out. 
" Hired help " was scarce. Some neighbor, not so " well- 
to-do," who had more children than income, spared a daughter 
" to come as one of the family " to work for board, clothes 
and winter's schooling till of age. Then, she was paid five 
dollars a month, and, at her marriage, was given a black silk 
dress and a feather bed. 

Country stores were few and far between. Every family 
made and kept on hand their own supplies, loaning and bor- 
rowing in time of need ; exchanging spare-ribs, roasts of beef 
and lamb ; arranging their " butchering " in rotation, to 
accommodate each other. Fresh meat was a luxury, salted 
meat, the main reliance. In the smokehouse hung hams, 
shoulders, beef, tongue and sausage. Under these it was my 
task to pile green hickory chips, pine sawdust and corncobs. 



Recollections of Old New Milfobd Homes 69 

which made a smoke of a peculiar, pungent, spicy quality and 
odor. 

Tallow candles, the only light in the long evenings, were 
to be dipped ; dozens and dozens, the whole year's supply. To 
run out of candles was " shiftless." A few, partly wax, for 
the tall silver and brass candlesticks on the mantels in parlor 
and keeping-room, were run in moulds and hung to bleach. 

Soap was to be made, hard and soft. An empty soap bar- 
rel was thriftless. A cake of scented soap, brought from a 
distant city, was highly prized. Of spinning and weaving there 
was no end. The mother and daughters, instead of going to 
clubs and lectures, after the housework was done had their 
stents, so many knots of yarn to spin. No need to walk for 
exercise; back and forth they briskly stepped, as the wheel 
swiftly whirled, the rolls stretching into miles of yarn, " sin- 
gle twisted " for cloth, " double and twisted " for stockings 
and carpet warp. Then, the yam must be scoured and dyed, 
not with " Diamond Dyes " from the drug store, but with 
vegetable dyes from fields and woods — white oak roots, butter- 
nut bark, chestnut burrs, sumach " bobs," onion skins, and the 
wonderful indigo " dye pot blue." Every good housewife was 
past master in the art of dyeing, and looked with pride on the 
line and fence draped with skeins of yam of bright, unfading 
hues and shades. Flax wheels, not then strictly ornamental, 
hummed evenings by the fireside, while deft fingers drew from 
the flax-covered distaff^ fine linen thread for sewing, and for 
sheets, pillow-cases, towels, and all the underclothing of the 
family. The loom in the garret was never without its web 
of cloth in process of weaving — wool, linen, or wool and linen 
mixed (called linsey-woolsey). The linen was spread on the 
grass, bleached snowy white, then laid away in oaken chests, 
ready for the wedding " setting out " of the daughters, who 
made it up by hand, stitching " two threads over, two under," 
the rule of the good seamstress. 

From " homespun fulled cloth " the " every day " suits of 
men and boys were made, with the help of the tailoress who 
came spring and fall with press-board, goose, tailor-shears, 



70 The Past and Present 

and rolls of patterns supposed to fit all figures. What wonder 
if these home-made garments looked their name ! Bedquilts 
were pieced in intricate patterns — ^baskets of flowers, butter- 
flies, peonies, chariot wheels, log-cabin, goose chase, double 
and single Irish chain — and quilted in shells, circles, squares, 
diamonds, sawteeth and herringbone. The quilt frames in the 
" spare bed room " usually had one of these marvelous con- 
structions on, ready for a " Quilting Bee," after which the 
company gossipped over their cup of tea as we over ours after 
a card party. 

The shoemaker came with work-bench, kit of tools, lap-stone 
and boot-trees to make the common boots and shoes for the 
family (strictly common sense, no French heels). A smell of 
leather and " black wax " pervaded the room where he ham- 
mered merrily away at the heavy shoe soles on the lap-stone, 
singing of " Captain Kidd as he sailed, as he sailed," and 
telling stories of haunted houses. One blood-curdling tale 
of a ghost in a cellar, seizing the feet of everyone who went 
upstairs after dark, still lingers in my mind — uncomfortably, 
if the truth be told. 

The schoolmaster came, a welcome guest, " boarding 
around," a week for each scholar, and perhaps an extra week 
for the child of some poor widow needing kindly help. 

There came homeless wanderers silently claiming lodging 
and food. Under the low sloping roof was the " Old Shack's 
Room," where a bed was always kept in readiness. 

One whom we knew only as " Old Shiver-to-bits " had been 
" crossed in love " and his mind unbalanced. He never spoke, 
except to himself as he looked up to the sky, muttering, " The 
air is full of women, all shiver-de-bits." Another would sleep 
only on the floor by the kitchen fire, wrapped in a blanket, 
cooking his own food for fear of being poisoned. He was an 
astrologer and philosopher. A woman came, who wore a quilted 
hood, never taken off* and kept drawn over her face, which was 
always averted when she was spoken to. None of these unfor- 
tunates was ever turned away from the open doors of those 
hospitable homes. 



Recollections of Old New Milford Homes 71 

The Schaghticoke Indians, who came from the Reservation 
with squaws and hounds on their fishing expeditions to the 
" Eel Rocks " at the Great Falls, always expected the privilege 
of sleeping in the bam. Their desire for cider was greater 
than their desire for food. They willingly paid for both with 
splint baskets. Sometimes they became quarrelsome and noisy, 
and then the " riot act " was read to them, whip in hand. 

The visits of the parson were prized events. An atmos- 
phere of dignity and solemnity seemed to emanate from his 
black clothes, high stock and white cravat. A reverence now 
unknown was felt for him, and he was looked up to as the 
fountain head of theology and religion. The doctrines of 
election, predestination and eternal punishment were talked of, 
filling my childish mind with dire forebodings of literal fire 
and brimstone. After a " season of prayer," and dinner (al- 
ways an extra good one), he drove away, to my great relief. 

Visits in those days did not mean calls. Company came 
from miles away to spend the day, often uninvited, but not 
unwelcome. To " drop in and take pot luck " was not, as 
to-day, a figure of speech, but literally true, for a " boiled 
dish " was the regulation dinner. Corned beef, salt pork, and 
vegetables were served together on a big pewter platter, with 
a boiled bag-pudding of Indian meal. This may not sound 
as well as Beef a la mode, entrees and desserts ; but, when 
well cooked, it was by no means to be despised; and on it our 
ancestors lived, thrived, and were content, thankful and happy. 
Possibly it did give them bilious and depressed views of the 
hereafter ! 

Sunday began Saturday night, when the sun went down 
behind the hills. With the lengthening shadows came a seem- 
ing stillness, in advance of the long day of rest to follow. 
The Sunday breakfast was early, giving plenty of time for 
the long drive to " meeting." Come sun, come rain, snow 
or wind, nothing but sickness excused absence from the two 
long sermons, morning and afternoon, with prayer meeting 
between. The day was kept to the very letter of the old 
Sabbatical law. Dinner was prepared Saturday, and eaten 



72 The Past and Present 

cold. For Sunday reading, the leather-bound Family Bible 
and Psalm Book were brought out ; also Baxter's Saints' Rest, 
Pilgrim's Progress, and the Book of Martyrs. A walk be- 
yond the garden and dooryard was not allowed, till after 
sundown ; a drive, except in case of necessity, was never 
thought of. Only " York State folks " did that. A maiden 
aunt reproved me for cracking nuts on Sunday, giving me to 
read the Fourth Commandment, and Isaiah 58:13-14, "If 
thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy 
pleasure on my holy day," etc. The remembrance of those 
well-kept, solemn Sundays still remains; and, to this day, my 
inherited New England conscience never fails to accuse any 
transgression of the Fourth Commandment. Howells says, 
" The devout spirit of the old Puritans remained to their de- 
scendants long after the stern creed that had embodied that 
spirit had passed away." 

Fast Day, too, was strictly kept in Puritan households, with- 
out reference to Good Friday. We might ramble in the woods 
for wild flowers, however, gather wintergreen, birch and sas- 
safras for root beer, and have fritters and maple syrup for 
supper. 

Thanksgiving was tJie great feast day of the whole year. 
Then, the children to the third and fourth generation came 
trooping back, filling the low-ceiled rooms under the old roof- 
tree ; and for them high festival was held. 

For days before, great preparations were made. The " but- 
tery " was full of good things. On the shelves were rows of 
mince, pumpkin and tart pies, the last named made from cider 
apple sauce, — a lost art, — and pans of doughnuts and crul- 
lers, flanked by the sage cheese, ready to be cut. Baking in 
the brick oven was an immense chicken pie, made with cream 
crust, — another lost art, — and an Indian pudding rich with 
suet — still another lost art. 

The turkey, the choicest young gobbler of the flock, stuff^ed 
with savory dressing, also a pig with an ear of corn in its 
mouth, were roasting in a Dutch oven on the hearth, all these 
together filling the house with an odor of good cheer. 



Recollections of Old New Milford Homes 73 

Oscar, of the Waldoi-f-Astoria, can do iiiiglity deeds in his 
line, but, with all his skill, cannot equal one of those real old- 
fashioned Thanksgiving dinners. 

After all the kin had come and gone, there was abundant 
" skippin " for the worthy poor ; yes, and for the unworthy, 
who might come to partake of the free bounty of the ever 
charitable. 

The winters were long, shutting families indoors by them- 
selves. Books and papers were few, but these early settlers 
kept abreast of the events of the day, and they had clear-cut, 
strong opinions, which they expressed with no uncertain sound. 
In the long evenings they gathered around the great fireplace, 
listening with never-failing interest to the oft-told tales of In- 
dians, of Tory raids, and of hardships and suffering in camp 
and field. 

" Shut in from all the world without. 

They sat, the clean-winged hearth about, 
Content to let the north wind roar 
In baffled rage at pane and door; 

And for the winter fireside meet. 
Between the andirons' straddling feet, 
The mug of cider simmered slow, 
The apples sputtered in a row, 
And, close at hand, the basket stood 
With nuts from brown October's wood." 

If neighbors joined the circle, promptly as the tall clock 
in the comer struck nine they donned surtouts, mufflers and 
striped knit mittens, lighted the candle in the pierced tin lan- 
tern, and trudged away over the hills to their distant homes. 

The back-log had by this time burned down to glowing 
coals, and from these the shining brass warming-pan was filled, 
to warm the bed of the great-grandmother, and the trundle- 
bed of the small great-granddaughter ; the remaining coals 
being carefully covered to kindle the morning fire. " Early 
to bed and early to rise," was a lived-up-to motto. Each one 



74 The Past and Present 

of the household chmbcd the steep, draughty stairway, with 
flaring, flickering candles, which dimly lighted the cold bed- 
rooms, with their frost-covered windowpanes. Hastily un- 
dressing, they hurried under the blankets, and, burrowing into 
the deep feather beds, were soon lost in sound sleep, such sleep 
as open air life, good digestion, and a clear conscience alone 
can give. 

This life of the early days may seem dull and humdrum to us 
in the rush and whirl of ours. If it was sober by reason of 
struggles with the hard conditions and stern emergencies con- 
tended with, it was cheerful, kindly, dignified, full of high 
ideals, aims and works. Who shall say our life Is better? 

None of us would willingly go back to the " good old times," 
to their seeming narrowness, inconveniences and discomforts ; 
yet let us not forget to give all honor to these, our forbears, 
through whose piety, loyalty, courage and toil we have received 
so goodly a heritage. 




LEVI SYDNEY KNAPP 

Fron, a photograph taken about 18T0 now in the possession of his son, 
* ^ ^ Mr. Frederick Knapp 



UNCHARTERED INSTITUTIONS 

Contributed by Fhedeeick Knapp * 



Among the unchartered institutions of the New England town, 
none has had a greater influence than its general " sitting- 
down " place, where, by common consent, the leaders of all 
classes gathered. It was to the town what political and social 
clubs are to the city ; it was an exchange place, a go-as-you- 
please Lyceum, a modern market-place, where the newspapers 
of the day were criticised, where affairs of Church and State 
had to be discussed, where politics and politicians were weighed, 
ticketed, and shelved for future reference, and where neigh- 
borhood events were gone over and approved or disapproved. 
War, domestic or foreign, and its generals, were subject to 
this trial by jury. The jury consisted of lawyers, doctors, 
bankers, merchants, farmers. Party-leaders of every shade of 
opinion — Whigs (later Republicans), Democrats, Abolitionists 
(brass-mounted, or not mounted at all). Prohibitionists, Inde- 
pendents — all met here on common ground. It was an intel- 
ligent, earnest crowd, always good-natured, whose " give and 
take " was without circumlocution or apology. 

In no town in Litchfield County, I fancy, was there quite 
such a sitting-down place as the store of Mr. Levi S. Knapp 
on Bank Street in our own town of New Milford, which was 
conducted by him until his death at the age of ninety-three, 
and, afterward, by his son, Gerardus Knapp. The place was 
known to everybody in the towns around. During the Kansas- 
Nebraska troubles in the late " Fifties," a witty neighbor 
christened it " Topeka Hall " ; and the name was accepted as 
quite the proper thing. For a half century, " Topeka Hall " 
was an informal congress, where earnest men threshed out the 

* A native and former resident of New Milford, who now resides in 
Hartford, Connecticut. 

75 



76 



The Past and Present 



problems of the hour. As our late Governor Andrews said of it, 
" It was the place where the world was wound up." Had it 
been honored bj a historian, like the late George William Cur- 
tis, and a Harper's Magazine for record, its quips and repar- 
tees might have furnished the " Easy Chair " with abundant 
and amusing copy ; and its " wise saws and modern instances " 
would fairly have covered the history of the town. While its 
good stories made fun for the day, the place became, none the 
less, an educator of public opinion, and wielded an influence 
second to no institution in the town. 

The remarkable longevity of the men who assembled there 
is worthy of special record, covering, as it does, the greater 
part of the nineteenth century. Below is a list of several of 
the prominent men, and their ages at death. It is a matter 
of regret that a more complete hst cannot now be made: 



Col. William J. Starr, 97. 
William Roberts, 92. 
Royal I. Canfield, 76. 
WiUiam N. Canfield, 86. 
Ralph E. Canfield, 85. 
Judge David C. Sanford, 66- 
Sheldon Blackman, 69. 
Eh Mygatt, 86. 
A. B. Mygatt, 80. 
Augustine Thayer, 70. 
Rev. John Greenwood, 85. 
Rev. David Murdoch, 76. 
John S. Turrlll, 64. 
Benjamin J. Stone, 78. 
John Peck, 81. 
Cornelius W. Peck, 78. 
Elijah Hall, 70. 
William Hartwell, 87. 
Theodore Buck, 78. 
Charles H. Booth, 81. 
Frederick G. Bennett, 74. 



Col. Gerardus Roberts, 70. 
Levi S. Knapp, 93. 
Gerardus Knapp, 74. 
Charles C. Noble, 72. 
John Glover Noble, 77. 
Hiram B. Noble, 70. 
Van Rensselaer Giddings, 79. 
Merritt Beach, 79. 
William Bostwick, 80. 
Ethiel S. Green, 84. 
Rev. J. B. Bonar, 79. 
John P. Treadwell, 64. 
Isaac B. Bristol, 84. 
Anan Hine, 71. 
Dr. James Hine, 80. 
William H. Hine, 77. 
Clark Hine, 84. 
Eli Clark, 87. 
Charles Sabin, 74. 
Royal Buckingham, 81. 
Samuel Randolph Hill, 62. 




AI.AXHOX X. CAXFIFJJ) 

Hum Oct. (), ISOT. 'Vhv oldest rcsick-iit of Xcw Milt'ord 



Unchartered Institutions 77 

Albert N. Baldwin, 80. Eleazer T. Brewer, 81. 

James H. McMahon, 68. Cyrus Northrop, 95. 

Henry Merwin, 77. Robert Irwin, 88. 

Robert Ferriss, 87. Ezra Ferriss, 90. 

Joel W. Northrop, 74. 

And, living with us to-day, the only survivor of the older 
men, Mr. Alanson Canfield,* who will be one hundred years old 
on the eighth day of October, 1907. 

* Mr. Canfield viewed tlie various ceremonies of tlie Bi-Centennial Cele- 
bration from tlie veranda of his residence on the east side of " The Green." 
He received scores of visitors there with little apparent fatigue. — Editor. 



TRAINING DAYS IN THE FORTIES 
AS TOLD BY AN " OLD BOY » 

Contributed by Frederic Knapp 

" I LIKE boys, the masters of the playground and of the street 
— boys, who have the same hberal ticket of admission to all 
shops, factories, armories, town-meetings, caucuses, mobs, tar- 
get-shootings, as flies have ; quite unsuspected, coming in as 
naturally as the janitor — known to have no money in their 
pockets, and themselves not suspecting the value of this pov- 
erty ; putting nobody on his guard, but seeing the inside of 
the show — hearing all the asides. There are no secrets from 
them, they know everything that befalls in the fire company, 
the merits of every engine and every man at the brakes, and 
how to work it, and are swift to try their hand at every part ; 
so, too, the merits of every locomotive on the rails, and will 
coax the engineer to let them ride with him and pull the han- 
dles when it goes to the engine-house. They are there only 
for fun, and not knowing that they are at school in the court- 
house, or the cattle show, quite as much and more than they 
were, an hour ago, in the arithmetic class." 

Our Emerson was right : he knew boys. And at no place or 
time was the boy let loose to see and do, quite equal to the train- 
ing days in the " Forties." This was his day, when school 
didn't count, when the schoolma'am or master wasn't in it, the 
day long anticipated. When the morning broke he was no lag- 
gard, but the wise mother would not allow him to skip or hurry 
his breakfast, for she knew that when the day was done her 
laddie would be too fagged to eat. So, breakfast over, she ties 
the ribbon in his broad turn-down collar, and the father gives 
him two fippenny bits for all his own to spend as he pleases, and 
then they launch him forth with a " good time " for a blessing. 

At the hill's foot he meets his comrades, and, further down, 

78 



Training Days in the Forties 79 

more Johns and Jims and Sams and Bills, and then the fun 
begins. On the village Green things begin to take on a warlike 
aspect and the boys catch on to every movement and miss noth- 
ing ; while the girls — pshaw ! they ain't in it to-day — keep in 
yards or on church steps. The darkey boys, as happy as any, 
begin to bring on the warlike steeds, which are praised or jeered 
as appearances demand. Presently there is a drum-beat on the 
big bass drum, and every boy scampers for the band, which con- 
sists of a fifer, a snare-drummer, and Charles Ford to beat the 
big bass drum. And he just could beat it like Sam Hill ! I tell 
you, if the Britishers could have heard those fellows play, they 
would have got right off from Bunker Hill, you bet ! Sure ! they 
all admit. Now, at the upper part of " The Green," a soldier in 
uniform appears, and soon another. It's nine o'clock, and the 
first parade begins at ten. Soon they come in, in squads, until 
" The Green " seems to be covered with the mounts, after which 
the soldiers dismount and take things easy. Our boys are in 
and out amongst the horses, scooting, howling, criticising, or 
jeering, when an officer rides up and gives an order. This 
means business, and the small boy " gits," nor does he " stand 
upon the order of his going, but goes at once," and the soldiers 
hold the field. This is only preliminary work, however, a shak- 
ing down of the files preparatory to the reception of the Col- 
onel and his staff in the afternoon. This over, the troops are 
off duty. 

The soldiers take their ease as they please, some on " The 
Green," but more over at the tavern, where the boys flock in 
amongst them, until the " barkeep " shouts to them, " Get 
out ; there's too many of you ! " It's lunch time, too, for the 
boys, who begin to mass around Aunty Thatcher's gingerbread 
stand feeling about their jackets for the small coin. Whether 
they have any or not — it's all the same. The boys are demo- 
cratic and divide, paying just like grown-ups for what tliey 
buy with the coin of the realm. No line drawn to-day between 
the boy with money and the boy without, nor is the color line 
apparent. This cuts no ice with our boys. Here's Dandy 
Lazarus, Fred Wilson (afterward sold into slavery), Joe Bas- 



86 The Past and Present 

sett, and Phil Jacklin. Black or white, the boys never think, 
or care; so long as the fippenny bits last, no boy goes hungry. 

Then they stroll over and wash the gingerbread down with 
some of Jennings' ginger pop, happy as lords. Simple pleas- 
ures these; but, as Josh Billings says, the boys then got more 
fun out of a quarter of a dollar than do boys now out of a five- 
dollar bill. The bugle sounds, and every boy is off, for now 
the Colonel takes command. This is the " crowner " of the day 
which no boy will miss. The troop is again in line, with sabres 
drawn to receive its Colonel. A shout from the boys, and down 
the hue comes Colonel Starr with his staff. Hurrah ! ain't it 
great ! It's Napoleon, or Old Put, or Ethan Allen, or Lafay- 
ette over again ! The Colonel is received and takes command. 
Phe small boy holds his breath, for now you'll see how it's done 
in battle. The Colonel gives his orders ; by fours, by eights, 
they wheel, they turn, they go en masse — it's wonderful how 
they do it ! Golly gracious ! At last they return to place, 
salute their Colonel, clang their sabres back into the scabbards, 
and are dismissed, and Training Day is over. Our lads return 
to their homes to relate to the fathers and mothers the excite- 
ments and perils of the day. 

Well, my lads of the Forties, you had your fun ; but, with- 
out knowing it, you learned much more than the pleasures of 
the day. You learned patriotism, you learned what it was to 
subject yourselves to obedience for the common good; what 
team work was, to work together, shoulder to shoulder, for the 
achievement of a common purpose. You learned self-control 
and discipline, which stood you in good stead later, on the real 
battlefield, and for which we, the living, honor you as you sleep 
in God's acre, on each Memorial Day. And you also learned, 
without knowing it, what we older boys are slow to learn, that 
no man liveth to himself or dieth to himself, but that self- 
sacrifice, the greatest good to the greatest number, is the cor- 
nerstone of republics, the goal toward which the whole world 
is moving. 

Lads of the " Forties," I sing the " Sabre Song " to your 
honor, and may " Qui transtidit sustvnet " be your sheet anchor 
and your motto ! 






C—^.^-'t-T^L, 





/^<t 



REMARKABLE LONGEVITY OF NEW MILFORD 
CITIZENS 



A Partial List Compiled from the Records by Minot S. Giddings 



Samuel Wheeler Smith, 83. 

Eli Mygatt, Jr., 80. 

Zephaniah Briggs, 101. 

Nathan Gay lord, 81. 

David Sterling, 81. 

John Gaylord, 90. 

Gideon Camp, 79. 

Stephen Ferriss, 1st, 102. 

Stephen Ferriss, 2d, 88. 

Dea. Russell R. Pratt, 78. 

Lewis Allen, 80. 

Dr. George Taylor, 78. 

Samuel Buel, 83. 

Joseph Ferriss, 98. 

Benjamin E. Bostwick, 83. 

Henry Hoyt, 88. 

Lyman Hine, 89. 

Orrin B. Marsh, 94. 

John B. Peck, 77. 

Henry Camp, 78. 

Wm. Albert Knapp, 86. 

Jair Morehouse, 87. 

Eh Gaylord, 76. 

Jabez Morehouse, 79. 

Amelia Gunn, 82. 

Gracia Minerva Merwin, 78. 

Sarah B. Allen, 80. 

Henrietta Hine, 88. 

Marcia L. Baldwin, 79. 



David D. Northrop, 79. 
James A. Giddings, 87. 
Daniel Gaylord, 83. 
Peter Gaylord, 95. 
Peter Waller, 84. 
David Marsh, 82. 
WilHam A. Lewis, 77. 
Adolphus Hallock, 80. 
Benjamin Buckingham, 84. 
Seymour Buck, 81. 
George A. Ferriss, 78. 
George W. Mallory, 80. 
Isaac Hine, 82. 
Harvey Jennings, 78. 
Daniel Marsh, 82. 
WilHam H. Fairchild, 81. 
Northrop Dunning, 94. 
Irwin B. Gaylord, 93. 
Charles Lake, 83. 
Benjamin Treat, 78. 
Darius Williams, 88. 
William Couch, 78. 
Albert S. Hill, 85. 
William Cummings, 78. 
Eliza Leavitt, 86. 
Hetty Mygatt, 82. 
Janett Force, 82. 
Polly Canfield, 88. 
Thalia M. Nickerson, 80. 



82 



The Past and Present 



Chloe Nichols Turrill, 83. 
Betsey Evitts, 88. 
Betsey Sterling, 90. 
Ann Brownson, 85. 
Martha Bennett, 81. 
Mary Ann Boardman, 80. 
Ehza S. Knapp, 87. 
Mabel Baldwin, 87. 
Lucia Tomlinson, 93. 
Eliza Roberts, 84. 
Betsey Sterling, 90. 
Martha Gaylord, 88. 
Lucy F. Lathrop, 79. 
Marinda Ruby, 81. 
Jerusha Sanford, 97. 
Catharine Lewis, 82. 
Lamira D. Clark, 88. 
Mercy Canficld, 94. 
Emily Weaver, 81. 
Loretta Geer, 85. 
Helen C. Marsh, 80. 
Charlotte Evans, 87. 
Harriet Smith, 80. 
Armida Giddings, 96. 
Cornelia A. Morehouse, 82. 
Salome Williams, 88. 
Anna Walker, 91. 
Martha E. Dewey, 81. 
Susan Buckingham, 78. 
Harriet Hoyt Addis, 86. 
Ehzabeth M. Northrop, 76. 
Adehne Buckingham, 76. 
Elizabeth S. Hine, 85. 
A. Maria Garlic, 84. 
Julia A. Garlic, 80. 
Lucy L. Crofut, 78. 
Helen M. Giddings, 75. 



Polly Bull, 94. 
Anna Sheldon, 86. 
Urania Marsh, 82. 
Elizabeth jMorehouse, 92. 
Martha Mygatt, 87. 
Laura M. Hallock, 87. 
Jerusha Roberts, 91. 
Martha D. ^Mygatt, 90. 
Marietta Bryan, 89. 
Ehzabeth Monihan, 92. 
Ehzabeth C. INIiner, 78. 
Phcebe R. Stillson, 89. 
Electa Thayer, 92. 
Sara A. Sabin, 88. 
Rebecca Buck, 97. 
Emily Bostwick, 97. 
Eliza Bristol, 99. 
Polly M. Bishop, 90. 
Lois C. Fairchild, 80. 
Abigail D. Sturges, 90. 
Jane Jennings, 82. 
Mary A. Haviland, 85. 
Emeline C. Morrison, 85. 
Phoebe Briggs, 101. 
Sarah Ann Canficld, 80. 
Elizabeth Briggs, 85. 
Betsey Baldwin, 75. 
Fannie C. Warner, 78. 
Mary M. Hine, 83. 
Lucy Morgan, 79. 
Mary A. Treat, 82. 
Mary C. Wooster, 76. 
Julia Brewer, 84. 
Henrietta Noble, 85. 
Hannah Lake, 79. 
Esther H. Wheeler, 83. 
Laura M. Baldwin, 79. 



Rkmarkabije Longevity of New Milford Citizens 83 



Maria Green, 84. 
Nancy Newton, 83. 
Eveline G. Marsh, 83. 
Maria Marsh, 78. 
Irene Hoyt, 82. 
Betsey Piatt, 77. 
Minerva Franklin, 81. 
Elsie Hoyt, 81. 
Lucia H. Noble, 78. 
Rebecca A. Phelps, 84. 
Elsie O. Nickerson, 79. 
Sally 



Abigail Camp, 81. 
Susan Merwin, 79. 
Sophia McMahon, 89. 
Mary Stephens Brewer, 81. 
Mary Olcott, 82. 
Sarah Kellogg, 77. 
Laura L. Camp, 76. 
Maria Gaylord, 83. 
Caroline Erwin, 88. 
Electa Morehouse, 84. 
Eliza Roberts Knapp, 77. 
Northrop, 101. 



ACTIVITIES OF NEW MILFORD IN LATER YEARS 

COXTEIBUTED BY MiNOT S. GiDDINGS * 

The town of New Milford originally was of much larger ex- 
tent than it is at present. It contributed New Preston Society, 
on the northeast, to the town of Washington; Newbury So- 
ciety, on the south, to the town of Brookfield ; and " The Neck " 
(Bridgewater Society), in 1856, to form the town of Bridge- 
water. Notwithstanding this depletion, it is still one of the 
largest towns, territorially, in the State. 

It is well watered and fertihzed by the Housatonic River 
through the whole length of the town ; by the Aspetuck River, 
East and West branches, from the north; by Still River and 
Rocky River from the south and west ; and by other streams. 

The hills and vales of its rolling landscape present to the eye 
a spectacle which equals, in some respects, the much-lauded 
scenery of the Old World. 

The growth of the town has been slow but steady. Agri- 
culture is the chief industry. The fertility of the soil and its 
adaptability to grazing purposes make the production of milk 
and butter profitable. There is a large creamery near the rail- 
road in the south part of the village, where farmers of the 
surrounding country bring their milk, which is sent to the large 
cities. There is also a creamery at Gaylordsville, and there are 
two private estabhshments in the village to supply the local 
wants of the people. 

Raising tobacco and preparing it for market are among the 
principal occupations of the inhabitants, the Housatonic Val- 
ley being celebrated for the fine quality and abundant growth 
of this plant. 

* The writer of this article has endeavored to be accurate in his state- 
ments. He has sought information from various sources; from the towTi 
records, from files of newspapers of the town, from personal recollections, 
and from the " History of New Milford," by Rev. Samuel Orcutt, 1883. 

84 



Activities of New Milford in Later Years 85 

Vincent B. Sterling, who has been engaged with one of the 
large tobacco firms for many years, and is familiar with the 
tobacco business, has contributed the following regarding it: 

" Like most great enterprises, the raising of tobacco in New 
Milford started from small beginnings. About the year 1848, 
the first tobacco in New Milford was raised by George Mc- 
Mahon, who was soon followed by Seeley Richmond and Elijah 
Hall. These three men were without doubt the pioneers of the 
tobacco-raising in the Housatonic Valley. 

" From that time it has been cultivated with more or less suc- 
cess, until, to-day, it is the leading crop of the farmers of this 
and surrounding towns. The amount grown at present is about 
one thousand three hundred acres annually. The variety was 
Broad Leaf, up to 1883 ; since then, it has been almost 
exclusively Havana Seed. 

" Probably the amount invested in tobacco in the early fifties 
did not exceed five thousand dollars per annum, while, at the pres- 
ent time, at least five hundred thousand dollars is used annually 
buying and packing it. No crop grown by the farmer requires 
such constant attention. From the sowing in April, through 
the transplantation in June, until the matured plant is har- 
vested and placed in the curing sheds in August and Septem- 
ber the greatest care must be exercised. ' Eternal vigilance ' 
is the price of success, and a sharp hailstorm of a few minutes' 
duration may destroy the results of the summer's labor. Dur- 
ing the early fall the plants are taken from the poles, the leaves 
are stripped from the stalks and packed in bundles, and the 
tobacco is then ready for the buyer. 

" It is probable that tobacco was first assorted and packed 
in New Milford in 1848 by George McMahon, who was fol- 
lowed, a few years later, by Perry Hall. These men were the 
first packers in the Housatonic Valley. Space will not permit 
mention of the parties who have been engaged in the business 
since that time. At present, it is one of the leading industries 
of the town. There are twelve tobacco warehouses, employing 
through the packing season in the neighborhood of four hun- 
dred men. 



86 The Past and Present 

" Most of the capital needed to pack the tobacco is fur- 
nished by the large tobacco jobbing firms of New York and 
Chicago, who employ local men as buyers and packers. 

" The crop as a whole is an important source of wealth to 
the farmers, as is evidenced by the many thrifty and beautiful 
homes of the successful tobacco growers scattered over the hills 
and valleys of New Milford." 

There are some notable manufacturing industries in this 
town. 

The manufacture of wool hats here dates back nearly a cen- 
tury. Glover Sanford began making them in 1823, on a small 
scale, in Bridgewater Society. The business steadily increased 
and was carried on by himself and brothers till 1870, when the 
firm removed to Bridgeport, Conn. 

Smith & Erwin opened a hat factory in Bridgewater in 1834, 
and removed to this village in 1855, occupying the long build- 
ing now used as a store by the firm of Ackley, Hatch & Marsh. 

Isaac Reynolds began hat manufacturing in Bridgewater in 
1847, afterwards removing to Lanesville. Joseph Sanford, 
Lyman B. Stone, and Francis Callahan engaged in the business 
at different times. A company was organized there in 1853 
under the name of the Union Manufacturing Company. 

The modern hatting industry was established in this village 
in 1885. Some of the leading citizens donated to the firm of 
Bates & Green a piece of land on West Street Extension, where 
a building was erected, and the making of hats of fur was car- 
ried on in a moderate way until 1898, when a fire destroyed the 
plant. It was not rebuilt, but the business was reorganized as 
the New Milford Hat Company, which purchased a tract of 
land a short distance north of the village, near the mouth of 
the Aspetuck River, and erected there a large plant with mod- 
ern improvements. The officers of the company are: Andrew 
G. Barnes, president; Seymour S. Green, secretary and treas- 
urer, and William G. Green, superintendent. Under their able 
management the enterprise has been very successful. In 1906 
the amount of business done was five hundred thousand dollars ; 
the pay-roll amounted to one hundred and eighty-five thousand 
dollars, and there were two hundred and fifty employees. 




IIUNUHAHLE ISAAC BALDWIN BRISTOL 

President of First National Bank, 1903-190,5, and of New Milford 

Savings Bank at time of his death 



Activities of New Milford in Later Years 87 

Merritt W. Hill and E. W. Hanke formed a partnership and 
began making hats, about 1890, in the Randolph Hill mill 
building on Mill Street. At the end of two or three years they 
removed to the upper part of Maltby Leach's flour and feed 
store on Railroad Street, where they were incorporated as a 
stock company in 1894. This company was dissolved in a few 
years. Mr. Hill now has a jewelry store on Bank Street. Mr. 
Hanke went to Bridgeport, Conn., and is doing a flourishing 
hat business there. 

The manufacturing of buttons from vegetable ivory was 
begun here in 1866 by Henry S. and Walter B. Bostwick, under 
the firm name of Bostwick Brothers. The ivory nuts were at 
that time brought to this country as ballast to ships and sold at 
a small price, so that the making of buttons from them was 
quite profitable. Bostwick Brothers erected a building on Rail- 
road Street and carried on the business with great success till 
1884, when the plant was damaged by fire. Soon after the 
firm dissolved. Walter B. Bostwick went to Bridgeport, Conn., 
where he engaged in business, became prominent and was elected 
mayor. 

Buttons were made at the old hat shop, corner of Bridge 
and Railroad streets, for several years by Isaac B. Bristol, 
Robert H. Isbell, William Schoverling, Rufus Leavitt, and per- 
haps others. About 1878 the Noble Brothers purchased the 
business and carried it on for a few years. After that, various 
mechanical inventions were developed there. A few years ago, 
the building passed to the firm of Ackley, Hatch & Marsh, and 
is now used for a general store. 

A button shop was erected in 1884 on West Street Extension, 
in which buttons were manufactured by William Schoverling, 
George W. Anthony, and David E. Soule till 1889, when it was 
burned to the ground. This put an end substantially to button 
making in the town, the cost of raw material having increased 
so much that it became unprofitable. 

Making lounges was begun in a small way many years ago 
by De Watt Pepper. From this slight beginning, the business 
increased until it became necessary to establish a large plant to 
meet the growing demands of the trade. The Eastern Lounge 



88 The Past and Present , 

Company was first housed in William Schoverling's brick build- 
ing on Railroad Street, occupying, in addition to that, the old 
hat building on the corner of Bridge Street. In 1895 the 
business was removed to the commodious plant built by William 
Schoverling, on the site of the West Street Extension button 
factory, where it has been large and flourishing. The company 
is composed of De Watt Pepper, president, Mrs. William 
Schoverling, vice-president, and William P. Landon, secretary 
and treasurer. 

Roswell and Sheldon Northrop began in 1832 the manufac- 
ture of machinery in a building, in Maryland District, near 
where the trout pond of Turney Soule now is, using the water- 
power to carry on their business. In a few years they removed 
to the brook south, and erected a foundry and machine shop, 
enlarging the business and admitting a younger brother, David, 
to the firm. They made castings to order, cast-iron fences, 
and various kinds of machinery. Changes in the firm occurred 
from time to time, but it always continued in the Northrop 
family. In 1887 Jasper A. Northrop removed the business to 
this village on West Street Extension, erecting a foundry and 
machine shop. He invented and began making a heater for 
warming houses, which he named the " Unique." This heater 
is made for both water and steam, and is sold extensively in this 
region. 

Paper making from straw and rags has been carried on in 
this town for many years. Albert S. Hill and Edward Barton 
erected a paper mill in 1852, about a mile above Northville, on 
East Aspetuck River, where they made straw-board paper for 
hat and dry goods boxes. This business was continued until 
within a short time. The site had been used for a saw-mill more 
than seventy years before the paper mill was erected. 

Just below this mill, on the river, was a grist mill, which was 
purchased in 1862 by William W. Wells and his brother Edwin 
S. They ground flour and feed there many years, and also con- 
structed a saw-mill. This property has been used as a mill site 
for more than one hundred and twenty-five years. 

Justus Miles came from Milford in 1742 and purchased the 
farm in Park Lane where the old house knowTi as " Miles' 




Ufei^ir *^ ^ 




Activities of New Milfoed in Later Years 89 

Tavern " still stands, and where, from an ancient sycamore, 
still hangs the old iron crane which bore the tavern sign a hun- 
dred years or more ago. He built the works known as the 
" Miles' Grist Mill " in 1748 "by the north end of Henry Gar- 
lick's home lot " on East Aspetuck River. Manufacturing of 
some kind has been carried on there ever since, paper having 
been made there for the last fifty years. A company organized 
as the " New Milford Paper Company " recently purchased the 
property, and is preparing to do a large business in making 
cardboard and paper. 

The Merryall Plough Foundry was established soon after 
1800 by Elijah Hall. He made castings for ploughs and in- 
vented the " Hall Plough," which was very popular among 
farmers for many years. Mr. Hall was the first man in the 
State to use bituminous coal for forge work. 

In 1768 Angus Nicholson purchased land on West Aspetuck 
River, and, some time after, built what was known for a long 
time as Nicholson's Iron Works. He erected a square marble 
stone, which is now standing, on the corner of the road a short 
distance above Wellsville, with the following inscription : " To 
Wm. Nicholson's Ironworks, 2 miles from New Milford, 85 
miles from N. York, 1788." On the east side of the stone, the 
words, " To Kent," are inscribed, with an index hand pointing 
northward. 

The manufacture of wool and linen into cloth was begun in 
the town at an early date. Mills for that purpose were erected 
on various water courses. Such a business was carried on near 
the mouth of Rocky River. 

About 1820 William Roberts erected cloth works at Gaylords- 
ville. A dam across the river was constructed in the early part 
of last century, and a saw-mill put into operation on the west 
side by Homer Gaylord, and on the east side a grist-mill, by 
Peter Gaylord. 

George Wells and brother established cloth works at Wells- 
ville, where they manufactured cloths quite extensively from 
wool and from wool mixed with cotton. The plant burned down 
eventually, and was not rebuilt. The property subsequently 
passed into the hands of Chauncey B. Marsh, who erected a 



90 The Past and Present 

saw-mill and machine shop, which he carries on at the present 
time. Mr. Marsh is also engaged in large operations in wood 
and lumber. 

As many of the hills about New Milford are of lime rock 
formation, the stone has been mined and burned for lime since 
an early date ; but this business has been somewhat neglected in 
recent years. In 1893 Charles E. Griffin leased or purchased 
of Marshall Marsh a tract of land near Boardman's Bridge, 
much of which was composed of lime rock. There he erected 
buildings and Hme kilns, quarrying and burning lime success- 
fully until 1897, when a fire destroyed the property. It was 
soon rebuilt and carried on until 1902, at which time the plant 
became incorporated in the New England Lime Company. 
Under that name, the business has greatly increased, and a large 
quantity of excellent lime is produced. 

The mill site at Little Falls, about one mile below the village, 
has from early times been used as a grist mill. It was first 
known as Ruggles' Mill, then, for fifty years, as Stillson's 
Mill, and, after that, as Giddings' Mill. The structure is sub- 
stantially built of stone. In 1884, William D. Black joined with 
Levi P. Giddings in establishing an electric light plant there. 
Lewis F. Curtis joined the firm a few years later. The New 
Milford Electric Light Company was incorporated in 1893 by 
Lewis F. Curtis, Mrs. William D. Black, and Levi P. Giddings. 
A new dam of stone and concrete has been recently constructed 
across the river, which furnishes abundant water power. This 
company furnishes electricity for lighting the streets and pub- 
lic and private houses in the village. A few years ago, an acety- 
lene gas plant was established, which is used to a limited extent. 

For many years a company bought land and " rights " to 
use land on the Housatonic River from Falls Village south- 
ward as far as Newtown. The late Hon. Nicholas Staub was 
very active in this project. In 1898 a company was incor- 
porated as the New Milford Power Company. This company 
built a high dam at Bull's Bridge and constructed a canal for 
about a mile down the river. At the lower end of the canal, 
on the border of this town, they built a power-house and estab- 
lished on the river electric machinery about one hundred and 







III I 

" u - y 



A 






^1 



< 

c 
c 

X 

X 

C 

c 
c 



c 

O 

c 
S 

&^ 










Activities of New Milford in Latee Yeaus 91 

ten feet below the level of the canal. Water is conveyed down 
this steep declivity to the wheels through a huge cylinder thir- 
teen feet in diameter. The electricity generated here is carried 
on wires to Waterbury, Bristol, and other cities, and moves the 
trolley systems of those places. 

A company was formed in 1888 for the purpose of making 
pottery. Buildings were erected a short distance east of Gid- 
dings' Mill, which received their power from the mill by means 
of a long wire cable connected with a water-wheel. Quite a 
large business was carried on for a few years ; then the plant 
passed into other hands for other purposes. 

George B. Calhoun contributes the following concerning one 
of the large industries of the town, the Bridgeport Wood Fin- 
ishing Company: 

" This company was incorporated in Bridgeport, Conn., on 
October 7, 1876, with a silex manufacturing plant at Fort 
Ann, N. Y. In 1881 the company removed to its present loca- 
tion at Still River, and erected there a large silex, filler and 
paint, and japan and varnish plant. The principal portion of 
this plant was destroyed by fire in February, 1902, and was 
rebuilt with better facilities for meeting its business require- 
ments. The products of the company are ground silex and 
feldspar, Wheeler's Patent Wood Filler, Breinig's Lithogen 
Silicate Paint, Breinig's Water and Oil Stains, Japans, Var- 
nishes, etc. The business of the company has steadily increased 
in volume from year to year, and its products now have a 
world-wide reputation, so that, at the present time, agencies 
have been established in all the principal cities of the United 
States and Canada, as well as in Porto Rico, South America, 
and the principal European cities. With an auxiliary silex 
manufacturing plant at Branchville, Conn., and branch offices 
and warehouses in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and 
Chicago, the company is well equipped to care for its largely 
increasing interests at home and abroad. The officers of the 
company are: David E. Breinig, president and general man- 
ager; Edward E. Porter, vice-president; George B. Calhoun, 
secretary ; Henry S. Mygatt, treasurer." 

The cause of education has always received the earnest at- 



92 The Past and Present 

tention of the citizens of New Milford, and the little brown 
schoolhouses, planted a few miles apart, in which the boys and 
girls received all their book learning, were landmarks in the 
New England colonies, as are to-day the more pretentious 
structures which have supplanted them. In the early days, the 
Bible was read every morning at the opening of school and 
religious instruction was given ; it was also thought proper to 
invoke the blessing of the Great Ruler of the Universe. 

New Milford was divided into twenty school districts, the 
schools of which taught the elementary branches. In later 
years, as the population increased and a greater desire for 
knowledge was manifested, private and select schools and acad- 
emies were founded in different parts of the town ; at Gaylords- 
ville, at Northville, and in this village. 

The most noted school, established in the early part of the 
last half century, was the Housatonic Institute, which was car- 
ried on many years by Benjamin J. Stone and Mary A., his 
wife. It was situated on the site now occupied by Memorial 
Hall. This school was known far and wide and received pupils 
from the surrounding towns. Many of the older people of the 
town received their education there. 

A famous school for boys was the Adelphi Institute, which 
removed from Cornwall, Conn., to this town in I860. Ambrose 
S. Rogers put up fine buildings on the sightly hillside southeast 
of the village, and conducted for many years an educational 
institution which took the form of a military school during the 
Civil War. 

The Center School is graded. Its several departments range 
from the kindergarten to the high school, which last prepares 
students for college. It is estimated that there are about one 
thousand one hundred children in the town between the ages of 
four and sixteen years. 

The first kindergarten school in the town was opened in 1873 
by Mrs. Andrew Bristol, assisted by Miss Mary C. Wells. Miss 
Wells succeeded Mrs. Bristol in 1878, and removed the school 
to her own home on Elm Street. It is called " Sunny Nook." 
She prepared herself for teaching at the New York Normal 




P3ST-GKADUATE DlCl'AKTAIENTT 



I n g 1 e s i d e 
School was es- 
tablished i n 
189^ by Mrs. 
William D . 
Black, a daugh- 
ter of Hon. 
David C 
ford and 
tive of 
Milford. 

It is H 
for girls and has 
been patronized 
b y pro m i n e n t 
families in most 
of the states. 

The literary 
s t a n d a r d i s 
hiffh. The best 



San- 
a na- 
New 

school 



specialists are employed as 
teachers and tlie regular 
course exceeds the college 
entrance requirements. It is 
especially a finishing school 
and its Post-Graduate De- 
partment gives unusual op- 
portunities for specializing 
in nuisic, art, literature, lan- 
guages, etc. Physical train- 
ing is a popular feature. 
The number of pupils is 
limited to one hundred. 




IXGI.ESIDE lUTXC.AI.OW 




FOINDATIUN HOUSE 

VIEWS OF INGLESIDE SCHOOL 



Activities of New Milford in Later Years 93 

Kindergarten, at which she graduated in 1878. Miss Wells 
conducts her school with great success. 

The Ingleside School for girls, which was established by Mrs. 
William D. Black, in 1892, and is the pride of the town, is 
described in another place. 

There are six churches in the village — the First* Congrega- 
tional, the parent church; St. John's (Episcopal); the Meth- 
odist Episcopal; St. Francis Xavier (Roman Catholic); All 
Saints' Memorial (Episcopal) ; and the Advent Christian. 
There is a Baptist church at Northville, a Methodist Episcopal 
church at Gaylordsville, and the old Quaker Meeting-house at 
Lanesville. Boardman and Merryall have each a chapel, in 
which Sunday schools and religious meetings are held weekly. 
A Sabbath school is conducted in Chestnut Land District. 

The Memorial Hall and Library was erected in 1897 as a 
memorial to the soldiers and sailors of New Milford. Egbert 
Marsh contributed ten thousand dollars toward the building 
and gave part of the lot. He also gave the fund for supplying 
books to the library. Individuals contributed the balance of 
the cost of this memorial. The upper story is the headquarters 
of Upton Post, Grand Army of the Republic, which was or- 
ganized December 20, 1882, with twenty-six charter members. 

The first newspaper in this village was the New Milford Re- 
publican, established in 184!5, by J. K. Averill, who carried it 
on for a year, then removed to Litchfield, Conn. 

Messrs. Bailey and Donavan of Danbury, publishers of the 
Danhury News, began, in 1872, to pubhsh the New Milford 
Journal, which was soon after sold to J. R. Johnson, and, later, 
to Marcus L. Delevan, who changed its name to the Housa- 
tonic Ray. The Gazette was started by Gee and Hale in 1877, 
and passed shortly after into the hands of Robert Erwin. 
Joshua A. Bolles and Franklyn Henry Giddings of Great Bar- 
rington, Mass., purchased the Ray in 1882 and, a little later, 
the Gazette, and merged the two papers into the Nero Milford 
Gazette. Mr. Giddings soon withdrew from the paper, not find- 
ing sufficient scope probably as an editor of a country news- 

* The Second Congregational Church was established in Bridgewater 
Society which became the town of Bridgewater in 1856. 



94 The Past and Present 

paper for his great ability. He has since attained world-wide 
fame as Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, hav- 
ing written several works on sociology and kindred subjects, 
some of which have been translated into many languages. Mr. 
Bolles continued to conduct the Gazette with much ability till 
he was stricken with a disease which suddenly caused his death, 
to the sorrow of the whole community. The paper then passed 
into the hands of Philip Wells, the present proprietor. 

New Milford has had a brass band most of the time during 
the last half century. The original band was organized in 1855 
by Earl Buckingham, who was its first leader. At the break- 
ing out of the Civil War, the band engaged with the Fourth 
Pennsylvania Cavalry. It was discharged by Act of Congress 
after having served about eleven months. In 1872, a reorgan- 
ization was effected, with Winfred Soule as leader. Under dif- 
ferent leaders, the band has continued, with occasional lapses, to 
the present time. 

Roger Sherman Hall was built in 1875, at a cost of nearly 
fifty thousand dollars. It is of brick, and has a large hall on 
the second floor; a courtroom, probate, town offices, and a law 
library on the first floor ; and a town courtroom and " lockup " 
in the basement. It stands on the site of William Sherman's 
store, where Roger Sherman had his shoe shop. On the twenty- 
sixth of October, 1897, a bronze tablet to the memory of Roger 
Sherman, which had been placed on the north side of the front 
entrance of the building, was unveiled in the presence of a large 
company. The tablet was the gift of the Roger Sherman 
Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, organized 
May 15, 1893. Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, State Regent, D. A. R. ; 
Senator George F. Hoar, a nephew of Roger Sherman ; Sena- 
tor Joseph R. Hawley ; and Henry S. Sanford made addresses. 

The first bank was started here in 1852 with one hundred 
thousand dollars capital, under the name of the Litchfield 
County Bank. It occupied a small brick building near the 
Boardman residence on Main Street. Frederick G. Chittenden 
was president. The first cashier was A. McAlHster of Bridge- 
port, Conn. George W. Whittlesey succeeded Mr. McAllister 




AXDUEW B. MYCiATT 

Bi)rn 18i0, died 1901 



Activities of New Milford in Later Years 95 

as cashier, and Eli Mygatt and Henry W. Booth were succes- 
sively presidents. In 1865 it was changed to a national bank 
and called the First National Bank of New Milford. The pres- 
idents were successively Daniel Marsh, Henry W. Booth, An- 
drew B. Mygatt, Isaac B, Bristol, and Henry S. Mygatt; the 
cashiers, John J. Conklin, Henry Ives, Henry S. Mygatt, and 
Everett J. Sturges. The present officers are : Henry S. Mygatt, 
president; Seymour S. Green, vice-president; and Everett J. 
Sturges, cashier. The clerks are Robert E. Murphy, Roland F. 
Mygatt, and Ray W. Leach. 

The New Milford Savings Bank was organized in 1858. Eli 
Mygatt was president, Silas Erwin vice-president, and John S. 
Turrill secretary and treasurer. Mr. Turrill was succeeded by 
Charles Randall, who was succeeded, in turn, by his son, H. 
LeRoy Randall, the present incumbent. The present officers 
are : Tumey Soule, president ; Seymour S. Green, vice-president ; 
H. LeRoy Randall, treasurer ; Edwin J. Emmons, assistant 
treasurer. When Dr. James Hine was president, a fine build- 
ing for the bank was built on Bank Street, which was destroyed 
in the great fire. On completion of the new United Bank Build- 
ing, the bank was installed there. 

The Agricultural Society of New Milford was formed in 
1858, and, since that time, has held fairs and cattle shows each 
year — with a few exceptions. It now occupies a fine site at 
Conetia Park. 

The New Milford Water Company was chartered in 1873, 
and organized with a board of directors. Charles H. Booth 
was chosen president, Charles H. Noble, secretary and treasurer, 
and Henry 0. Warner, superintendent. A reservoir was located 
on the hill about one mile and a quarter northeast of the village, 
near the source of Cross Brook, which is fed by springs of pure 
water. Three other reservoirs have since been built of such 
capacity that the supply of water is ample for the public and 
private uses of the village. The present officers of the com- 
pany are: Albert H. McMahon, president; Verton P. Staub, 
superintendent ; and Harry S. Sanford, secretary and treasurer. 

The first fire company, organized in 1830, was disbanded in 



96 The Past and Peesent 

1863, and succeeded by the Water Witch Engine Company No. 
2. This company was succeeded, in its turn, in 1876, by the 
Water Witch Hose Company, No. 2, which now occupies a com- 
modious building on Church Street. 

New Milford has had several ruinous fires in its history. A 
fire swept through Bank Street In I860, and another, a few 
years later ; but the most destructive conflagration occurred on 
May 5, 1902, when the village was startled by the ringing of 
bells, the tooting of steam whistles, and the cry of " Fire ! " 
Smoke and flames were seen Issuing from the stables back of 
the New Milford House. The hose company hastening to the 
scene put forth great eff'orts, and for a time seemed to have 
obtained control; but the flames spread in all directions, to the 
alarm of the inhabitants, who were removing their goods to 
supposed places of security. The solid block on Bank Street 
was soon in flames. Then, in spite of the strenuous exertions 
of the firemen, the fire leaped across the street to the north side 
and ignited the roofs of brick buildings where merchandise had 
been placed for safety. The neighboring city of Danbury sent 
a gallant band of firemen with one of their best engines, with 
which they labored with great zeal to subdue the flames. With 
the aid of our own brave boys, this was finally accomplished, 
but not until the whole block and both sides of Bank Street 
were smoking ruins. Three hotels, two bank buildings, the 
Post Office building, and the largest mercantile establishments 
in the town, with their contents, were destroyed. The only 
building in the whole square that was saved Intact was the fine 
mansion on the southeast corner of Main and Bridge streets, 
the residence of State Bank Commissioner Charles H. Noble 
and his brother, Town Clerk Russell B. Noble — worthy descend- 
ants of the pioneer settler of the town. 

Did the brave merchants and men of aff^alrs, who could do 
nothing while they saw their property go up in smoke, sit down 
in despair.'' Not they! They cleared away the rubbish before 
It was cold. They worked with a will to bring order out of 
chaos. They erected on " The Green " cheap wooden build- 
ings, in which they gathered the remnants of their goods ; and 



Activities of New Milford in Later Years 97 

soon the beautiful square looked like a mushroom city in some 
mining district of the West. They named it " Shanty Town," 
and for several months business was transacted there. 

After the fire, streets were improved, and the system of 
drainage was extended. Stores were enlarged — some to double 
their former size — their business increased, and in less than two 
years no trace of the terrible catastrophe was visible. 

The town was rebuilt of brick, iron, and stone, more beautiful 
and substantial than before. The three hotels, which had been 
of wood, were replaced by much larger buildings of brick. On 
the site of that famous hostelry, the New England Hotel, now 
stands the magnificent United Bank Building, one of the best 
equipped banking establishments in Western Connecticut. The 
National Bank occupies one side, and the Savings Bank the 
other side of this structure, while in the second story are hand- 
some, commodious offices. 

The railroad station was partly burned, but was soon reno- 
vated, and at that point in the town great changes are now in 
progress, A new freight depot is being erected and more 
tracks are being laid. In the near future, a new passenger sta- 
tion is to be built, and other improvements will be made. 

The population of the town is increasing, being estimated at 
the present time as fifty-five hundred inhabitants. A Board of 
Trade was organized many years ago. A commercial club now 
occupies the fine rooms over the new Post Office. The Town 
Court was established in 1901, and Postmaster George H. Jack- 
son was appointed the first judge. J. Edwin Hungerford suc- 
ceeded him, and J. Butler Merwin is the present incumbent. 
The wooden bridges that spanned the Housatonic, and were at 
times swept away by floods, have given place to graceful iron 
structures, which are above the reach of high water. The town 
possesses an excellent telephone system. The facilities for 
supplying all the needs of the inhabitants are adequate. In a 
word, to quote Newell Calhoun, " Wealth, learning, and re- 
ligion have their abiding places here, and have helped to make 
this village the resting place of the weary, and the working 
place of the industrious." 



THE STORY OF NEW MILFORD 
TOLD IN CHRONOLOGICAL EPITOME 

Contributed by Russell B. Noble and Minot S. Giddings 

1702. Indian Deed to the Proprietors of New Milford was 
given, signed by fourteen Indians. Consideration, Sixty 
pounds current money of the Colony of Connecticut, and 
twenty pounds in goods. 

There were 109 proprietors who owned Rights. 

The Committee were Robert Treat, Sen., Thomas Clarke, 

Sen., George Clarke, Joseph Treat, Joseph Peck, Jonathan 

Baldwin. 

New Milford was called a Plantation till 1T12. 

1703. The Legislative title called the " Patent " was gpnted 
by the Grand Court to New Milford. 

1706. Zachariah Ferriss came to New Milford and plowed a 
piece of land near Roger Sherman Hall — the first work done 
b}' a white man here. 

1707. The names of the three earliest settlers of New Milford 
are: John Noble from Westfield, Mass., John Bostwick, from 
Stratford, Ct., John Noble, Jr., from Westfield, Mass. 

1708. Daniel Bostwick was bom ; the first male child born in 
New Milford. 

Dea. Samuel Brownson, Farmington, Ct., Major John 
Bostwick, Jr., Stratford, Ct., and Zachariah Ferriss, Strat- 
ford, Ct., settled in New Milford. 
1709 or 1710. Roger Brownson, Farmington, Ct. ; John 
Weller, Springfield, Mass, and Thomas Weller, Westfield, 
Mass., settled in New Milford. 

1710. Sarah Ferriss was bom ; the first female child bom in 
New Milford. 

1711. Benjamin Bostwick, Stratford, Ct; Isaiah Bartlet, and 
Samuel Prindle, Milford, Ct., settled in New Milford. 

98 



Story of New Milford in Chronological, Epitome 99 

1712. The General Assembly of Conn, granted the powers and 
privileges of a Township. 

1712 and 1713. Samuel Beebe and John Weller were chosen 
grand jury and sworn. 

Benoni Stebbins and Stephen Noble were chosen haywards, 
or field-drivers. 

William Gaylord was chosen inspector and brander, and 
sworn. 

John Bostwick, Sen., was chosen Collector. 

Voted : that the inhabitants should pay Six pounds, fifteen 
shillings towards the minister's board, Zachariah Ferriss, Jr., 
holder, Samuel Brownson, town treasurer. 

1713. Ensign Wm. Gaylord came to New Milford, residing 
on the lot subsequently owned by Rev. Nathaniel Taylor. 

The town voted to lay out a pastor's lot and dig and stone 
up a well for Mr. Boardman, if he became the settled min- 
ister. 

Voted : to grant a twenty-four shilling lot to Mr. Daniel 
Boardman, a preacher of the Gospel at the said place, to 
his heirs and assigns forever, upon a condition that he shall 
become their settled minister of the place, and continue so 
for the space of twenty years, or during his natural life and 
ability so to be. 

Voted: that a dwelling house, forty feet in length and 
twenty-one in breadth and two stories high, and fourteen feet 
between joints, be forthwith built upon the land at New Mil- 
ford, proposed to be granted to Mr. Boardman. 

John Noble was chosen the first Town Clerk. Zachariah 
Ferriss, Samuel Brownson, and Samuel Hitchcock were 
chosen Selectmen. John Bostwick was chosen constable and 
sworn. Zachariah Ferriss, surveyor. John Noble, Sen., and 
John Bostwick, Jr., were chosen collectors to join with Mr. 
Jonathan Law to collect 12 shilling tax for the year. 

1714. Main Street, Bridge Street, Elm Street and Bennitt 
Street laid out. 

Voted : that there shall be five shillings and sixpence allowed 
by the week for the minister's board for the time to come. 



100 The Past and Present 

Voted : that there shall be six shillings cash allowed by the 
town to David Noble, in case he beat the drum the year 
coming upon all public meetings. 

John Noble died Aug. 17. He was the first adult to be 
buried in the graveyard. 

1715. In view of the need of a grist mill in the town, the pro- 
prietors, in a meeting held at Milford, Feb. 24, 1715, made 
this arrangement. Voted : that Ens. Samuel Clark, Sergt. 
Samuel Beard, and Samuel Brownson, are chosen a committee 
to agree with some person to build a mill on some part of 
Still river or elsewhere at his own charge. 

1716. John Griswold came from Wethersfield and built a mill 
at what is now Lanesville. 

The " First Church of Christ " was organized by Council 
on the day of the ordination of Mr. Boardman, and his call 
and acceptance of the ministry. Religious meetings were 
held in the house built by Mr. John Reed until a new meeting 
house was built. 

The burying place laid out— Center Cemetery. 

1718. Highway laid out from Danbury road to Mill at 
Lanesville. 

Highway laid out across Indian Field from river on west 
side. 

Highway laid out from Park Lane eastward. 

1719. Highway from Main Street to Great Falls on east side 
river laid out 30 rods wide. 

1722. June 12th, the New Milford North Purchase was made. 
It was taken from Waramaug's reserve. 

The first highway on west side of river to New Fairfield 
line through Gaylordsville laid out. 

Highway laid out on west side of Great River from Rocky 
River by marked trees to Winnisink Brook. 

Highway laid out northward. 

1723. Ensign Wm. Gaylord went to Gaylordsville and built 
a log cabin. 

1724-5. Capt. John Warner was the first settler at the " South 
Farm " (lower part of New Milford). 



Story of New Milford in Chronological Epitome 101 

1728. Ensign Wm. Gaylord erected a frame house which is 

still standing. 

The first Grand List made in New Milford. 
1730. John Noble, 2d, one of the first three settlers in New 

Milford, sold his house and lot in the village Nov. 6, to 

William Gillett of Milford, and soon after settled at Gallows 

Hill, New Milford plains, and resided there during his life. 

He was the first permanent settler below Gallows Hill. 
1733. Capt. Joseph Ruggles was the third or fourth settler 

at the Iron Works (Brookfield). 
173*i. A burying place laid out in South Farms, New Milford, 

called Gallows Hill, lying on the country road to Danbury. 

1736. " Capt. Stephen Noble, Dea. John Bostwick, Samuel 
Canfield, Sergt. Nathaniel Bostwick, and Joseph Ferriss were 
chosen a committee to order all the prudentials in building 
a bridge over the Great River in said New Milford at the 
place the town hath agreed upon, &c." 

This was a free bridge and was partly carried away by the 
floods in about three years, when a toll bridge was erected 
in its place. 

Rev. Daniel Boardman was granted the privileges of the 
bridge free of cost. 

1737. The Great Bridge across the Housatonic river was built 
in 1737 — the first to be built from its source to its mouth. 

1741. The first Quaker Meeting House built in or about this 
year, on Danbury road west side of river, nearly opposite 
Little Falls. 
1743. Roger Sherman came to New Milford from Newton, 
Mass. 

Feb. 6. " Voted : that Mr. Roger Sherman shall pass and 
repass over the bridge and his family; he paying ten 
shillings." 

December. " Voted : that the Indian natives shall pass and 
repass over the bridge toll-free." 

December. " Voted : that all persons that shall pass or 
repass on the Sabbath or Lord's Day between sunrise and 
sunset, in order to attend the public Worship of God in a 



102 The Past and Present 

lawful congregation in New Milford, shall pass free from 
payment over the great bridge in said town for the coming 
year." 

1744. Until 1744 there was but one military company in the 
Town. The officers were as follows : Capt. Stephen Noble 
(served 20 years), Lieut. John Bostwick, Ensign Wm. Gay- 
lord, Capt. Theophilus Baldwin, Lieut. Joseph Bostwick, 
Ensign Samuel Canfield. 

1746. The first Episcopal Church was established in New Mil- 
ford about this time. 

1746. Roger Sherman settled with his brother William on the 
west side of Winnisink brook, the place called New Dilloway. 

1754. Rev. Solomon Palmer, the first resident Episcopal 
clergyman, came to New Milford. 

Voted : " that the meeting-house shall be erected in 

the town street, east from Joseph Northrop's dwelling house 
and west from Samuel Comstock's well, where there is a heap 
of stones erected." 

Voted : " that the inhabitants of this Society will raise the 
meeting-house by free will offering." 

Voted : " that the committee shall provide what liquors they 
shall think necessary to be used at the raising of the meeting- 
house at the cost of the Society." 

The second Congregational meeting-house was built. 

The Newbury Society was incorporated. 

1755. The bridge was carried away by flood, and a new bridge 
built by the taxpayers of the town, and the Assembly granted 
the privilege of taking toll of all persons except taxpayers. 

Ezekiel Payne settled on the east side of the Housatonic, 
at Gaylords Ville. 

Lazarus Ruggles settled at Lanesville and erected the Iron 
Works. 

1756. " Voted : that the old meeting-house which belongs to 
this Society shall be disposed of as follows, viz. : three-quar- 
ters of the body seats and two pews shall be given to the 
Church of England, and the remainder of the body seats to 
the Quakers in this Society, and the pulpit to those of New- 




CAPTAIX GARRY BROOKS 

Grandson of Rev. Thomas Brooks, first pastor at Brookfield, GoimecticHit. 

and the oldest living- person born in Xew Milford 



Story of New Milford in Chronological, Epitome 103 

bury (Brookfield), and the gallery seats to those of New 
Preston Society which belong to New Milford, and the re- 
mainder to be disposed of and the avails of it improved 
toward the new meeting-house in this Society." 

1757. Mary Roberts gave her negro slave, Dan, his freedom 
upon his paying her £3, 2s. 5d. annually during his life. 

The church was organized in Newbury Society Sept. 28th. 
Mr. Thomas Brooks was ordained the first minister. 

1758. Capt. Joseph Canfield raised a company and served with 
them under Col. David Wooster. They marched to Albany 
in May. 

1760. Gaylordsville School District laid out. 
Upper Merryall burying ground laid out. 

1761. The Separatists or Strict Congregationalists built a 
house of worship near the Center Cemetery. 

An effort made to clear the Housatonic River for naviga- 
tion. A committee appointed and liberty granted to raise 
300 pounds money by lottery. 
1766. The bridge was carried away and rebuilt, and in three 
years a part of it went off again. It was again repaired 
but did not remain a year. 

1769. School District organized. Jared Lane introduced the 
Lombardy poplar tree into New Milford the latter part of 
the century. 

1770. Voted : " that the town relinquish all their right to any 
part of the bridge to the proprietors, who shall rebuild the 
same in any place between Little Falls and Wannipee Island." 

1771. School District on east side of the river laid out. 

1774. Partridge Thatcher liberated his slave Sibyl on her 
marrying Amos Lewis, a negro man. 

1775. Capt. Isaac Bostwick was sent with a company of sixty- 
five officers and men from New Milford to Boston in the 
autumn and winter of 1775, and remained there during Jan- 
uary and February, 1776. They were in Colonel Webb's 
Regiment. 

1776. Josiah Starr served in the Revolution. In May, 1776, 
he was appointed Captain. In June he was appointed Lieu- 



104 The Past and Present 

tenant Colonel, Commission dated January 9th, 1777, signed 
by John Hancock. He was commissioned as Colonel, 1780. 
Died Oct. 15, 1813. 

1776. Capt. Couch's Company, in Col. Andrew Ward's Regi- 
ment, containing seventy-six officers and men, were sent to 
New York. The company was in the service two months and 
twenty-three days. 

At an annual meeting of the inhabitants of the town of 
New Milford holden on the 9th day of December, 1776, the 
committee of Inspection and Correspondence appointed were: 
Mr. Samuel Comstock, Mr. Israel Baldwin, Capt. Abram 
Camp, Daniel Everitt, Esq., Capt. James Terrill, Mr. John 
Comstock, Mr. George Smith, Doct. Jonah Todd, Joseph 
Ruggles, Esq., Col. Bushnell Bostwick, Samuel Bostwick, 
Esq., Col. Samuel Canfield, WiUiam Cogswell, Esq., Abel 
Hine, Esq., Mr. Amos Northrop, Capt. Sherman Boardman, 
Mr. Reuben Booth, Mr. Asahel Noble, Dea. Benjamin Gay- 
lord, Mr. Oliver Warner, Mr. Caleb Bennett, Mr. Samuel 
Warner, Dea. Ebenezor Hotchkiss. 

1777. Public town meeting held Mar. 10. Voted: " That the 
regulations contained in the late Acts of Assembly respecting 
the laying of embargoes and the stating of prices now in 
force are good and wholesome, and such ought to be strictly 
adhered to and that it is the indefeasible duty of all inform- 
ing and executive officers to prosecute in the most effectual 
manner all violations of said regulations ; and that it is the 
duty of the inhabitants of this town to give all the assistance 
in their power to such officers in the discharge of their afore- 
said duty." 

Mar. 31. " Voted, that a committee be appointed accord- 
ing to the advice of His Honr., the Governor, &c., for the 
purpose of furnishing the quota of soldiers in the Continental 
service for said New Milford. 

" Lt. Zadock Noble, Capt. Joseph Ruggles, Jr., Jeremiah 
Canfield, Mr. Ithiel Stone, Dea. Israel Baldwin, Mr. Thomas 
Brownson, and Mr, Zachariah Sanford, were chosen the 
committee. 



Story of New Milford in Chronological Epitome 105 

" Voted, that the town of New Milford will give twelve 
pounds lawful money, bounty, for the first year's service in 
addition to all encouragement already given to such inhabit- 
ants of this town as shall enlist into the Continental service 
for three years, or during the present war, within ten days 
from this time, including those who belong to this town who 
have already enlisted, subducting only their wages from the 
time they enlisted to this day, and such private donations as 
they have received. 

" That for the second and third years, said soldiers who 
shall so enlist shall have six pounds lawful money pr. year to 
be paid out of the town treasury." 

Sept. 30. " Capt. Sherman Boardman, Mr. Samuel War- 
ner, Mr. Simeon Baldwin, Capt. Benjamin Brownson, Capt. 
Ebenezer Couch, Mr. Ithiel Stone, Dea. Ebenezer Hotchkiss 
shall be a committee to procure clothing for the soldiers in 
the Continental service." 
1778. A meeting held in January was recorded as follows : 

" 1st. The articles of Confederacy as proposed by Con- 
gress stiled. The United States of North America, was read 
in said meeting and taken into serious consideration by 
Articles separately, and in succession, and no objection made 
to said Articles, except some part of ye 5th Ai'ticle, which 
respects the mode of choosing our Delegates in Congress. 

" Voted : that the Freemen will always hold the Prerogative 
and sole power choosing our Delegates in Congress by vote. 

" 2d. Said Articles of Confederacy was approved as 
good, and adopted in full by the members of sd. meeting 
without one dissenting voice." 

The Revolutionary Army under General McDougall en- 
camped at Dea. Benjamin Gay lord's. Some time during the 
War Generals Washington and Layfayette were said to be 
guests of Dea. Benjamin Gaylord. 

Army under General McDougall was encamped on Second 
Hill. 

The committee of inspection and correspondence, which 
was a kind of home police of patriotism, were: 



106 The Past and Pb,esent 

Capt. Elizur Warner, Lt. Isaac De Forest, Lt. Benjamin 
Seelye, Capt. Reuben Bostwick, Capt. Paul Yates, Mr. 
Daniel Everett, Capt. James Terrill, Mr. Amos Northrop, 
Mr. John Porter, Mr. Nathan Gaylord, Mr. Samuel Mer- 
win, Jr. 

The committee to procure supplies for the soldiers in the 
Continental army were: Capt. James Terrill, Mr. Reuben 
Booth, Lt. David Smith, Mr. Simeon Baldwin, Capt. 
Benjamin Brownson. 

To provide clothing for the soldiers in the Continental 
army were: Ens. Jeremiah Canfield, Mr. Ebenezer Hotchkiss, 
Mr. Simeon Baldwin, Mr. Asahel Noble. 

1779. Received, Litchfield, 28th Sept. 1779, of the First So- 
ciety of New Milford by the hands of Col. Samuel Canfield, 
ninety-four pounds, sixteen shillings money, which was con- 
tributed by said Society for the relief of the suffering and 
distressed inhabitants of the towns of New Haven, Fairfield 
and Norwalk, £94-16. 

Per Reuben Smith, County Treasurer. 
Nathan Dayton purchased of Enos Camp a piece of land 
lying " southeast of the lime kiln," and on it his father and 
brother Abraham Dayton built a Saw Mill. Col. Josiah 
Starr and Abel Hine owned a grist-mill there at that time. 

1780. The town voted that every soldier who shall voluntarily 
enlist to serve in the Continental Battalions for the space of 
six months, or until sooner discharged shall be paid four 
bushels of wheat or an equivalent in money in addition to the 
bounty already given by the State. They also voted to give 
three bushels of wheat or its equivalent in money to all 
militia men who might be called to serve one month, in addi- 
tion to all other pay, and when they should serve more than 
a month, then three bushels of wheat for every month. 

Two months later the town offered ten bushels of wheat 
per month for every soldier who should enlist for four months. 

It was voted that none of the persons who had voluntarily 
gone over and joined the enemy, shall be suffered to abide and 
continue in the town during the present situation of affairs. 



Stoey of New Milford in Chronological Epitome 107 

March 13. A committee of inspection on provisions, 

agreeable to a late act of Assembly, was chosen as follows : 
Mr. Simeon Baldwin, Capt. Noble Hine, Mr. Daniel Everitt, 
Capt. Paul Yates, Mr. Ebenezer Hotchkiss, Mr. George 
Smith, Capt. Sherman Boardman, Mr. Ithiel Stone, Mr. 
Thomas Lewis, Capt. Benjamin Brownson, Capt. Reuben 
Bostwick, Mr. Israel Baldwin, Joseph Hartwell, Doct. 
Reuben Warner, Benjamin Gaylord, Ebenezer Gay lord, 
Asahel Noble, Capt. Elizur Warner, Israel Camp, Lemuel 
Warner, Capt. Joseph Ruggles, Dea, Abram Camp, Eph- 
raim Buck, Samuel Merwin, Martin Warner, Uri Jackson, 
Robert Bostwick, Nehemiah Hawley. 

In June, upon the call from Congress for more sol- 
diers, the town voted that " every soldier who shall volun- 
tarily enlist to serve in the Continental Battalions for the 
space of six months, or until the first day of January next 
(unless sooner discharged) shall be paid out of the town 
treasury of said New Milford by the first day of January 
for every month they are in said service, four bushels of 
wheat, or an equivalent thereto in money in addition to 
the bounty and encouragement already given by the 
State." 

The first burial in the Northville burying ground was 
that of Abraham Dayton. 

Partridge Thatcher liberated his slaves Jacob and Dianah 
gratis. 

Capt. Sherman Boardman liberated his negro slave Nehe- 
miah. 

John Treat liberated his negro man named Mingo. 
1782. Jemima Wilkinson came to New Milford, held meetings, 
taught peculiar doctrines and gained some adherents. She 
was considered an impostor. 
1788. The Society of Newbury was organized into a town 
and named Brookfield in honor of Rev. Thomas Brooks. The 
town was formed of portions of the towns of New Milford, 
Newtown, and Danbury. New Milford, Newbury Society 
contributed nearly one-half of the territory. 



108 The Past and Present 

The Baptists built a small church in the " Neck," now 
Bridgewater. 

Nicholas Wanzer deeded land to a Society of People called 
Quakers, it being the same on which the building known as 
the Quaker Meeting-house now stands. 

1789. Town and School house built north of the cross high- 
way at north end of Main street. 

1790. Prof. Nehemiah Strong had a private school for boys 
about this date. 

Rev. Stanley Griswold was ordained by the Consociation 
of Litchfield Co. Colleague pastor with Rev. Nathaniel 
Taylor of the First Church of New Milford. 

A troop of horse formed, belonging to New Milford, Wood- 
bury, and Litchfield ; Captains belonging to the town, were 
William Taylor, Stephen Chittenden, Jr. & Hermen Canfield. 

1792. Bridge built at Little Falls. 

A company of Light Infantry was formed, of which the 
Captains have been Daniel Boardman, Nicholas S. Masters, 
Briggs Ingersoll, Abraham Hayes. 

1793. New Milford divided into two military divisions, line 
running just north of the Levi S. Knapp residence. The new 
South Company was organized in that year and Nathan 
Bostwick was made Captain and James Hine, Lieutenant. 

A company of militia was formed belonging to the " Neck " 
(now Bridgewater), 

The second Episcopal Church begun in 1765 was finished 
and consecrated this year. 

1794. June 19. A destructive tornado crossed New Milford; 
blew over houses, barns, apple trees, destroyed timber, killed 
a child of Mr. Cole ; some others wounded, much grain 
destroyed. 

New bridge across Great River in the neck. 
1796. Watering place for horses and cattle established on Dan- 
bury road between Israel Camp's and Ephraim Buck's, 
The Union Circulating Library established. 
1797- Col. Samuel Canfield's name stands at the head of the 
tax list of the town. He was the son of Samuel Canfield, 



Story of New Milford in Chronological Epitome 109 

Esq., who was the first Canfield in New Milford and one of 
the Judges of the General Court. 

At the annual town meeting, Dec. 11, question put, whether 
this meeting will remit and give in the fines which are laid 
upon a certain number of persons for laboring upon the Sab- 
bath at harvest work the year past, and the town treasurer 
be directed to give up the obligations for sd. fines which are 
lodged in his hands. Voted in the negative. 

1800. Up to this date there had been eight military field 
officers in the town, viz.: Major John Bostwick, Col. Bush- 
nell Bostwick, Col. Samuel Canfield, Col. Josiah Starr (in ye 
Army), Col. Elisha Bostwick, Maj. Daniel Boardman, Maj. 
Reuben Warner, Maj. William Taylor. 

The Merry all Plough Foundry established by Elijah Hall, 
the first foundry established in Conn., and the first that used 
Blacksmith coal (bituminous). Mr. Hall went about the 
country disposing of his own wares and, one trip, he collected 
a bushel basket of coppers in payment. 

Perry Smith and William Terrill established a store near 
Upper Merryall. 

1802. After stages began to run for carrying the mail, the 
bridge was carried away, and the Stage Coach Company 
sued the town for damages in failing to make a crossing. 
The town employed Homer Boardman to build a boat to be 
run across by a large rope to meet the emergency, and the 
next Spring they applied to the Assembly for the privilege 
of a toll-bridge. 

1803 or 1804. Bridge built at Gaylordsville. 

1807. A dam was built across the river. Saw mill erected and 
Grist mill at Gaylordsville. 

Peter Gaylord built a store on the east side of the river 
about this time. 

1809. Church organized in Bridgewater. Meeting-house be- 
gun to be built by lottery instituted 1807. 

1810. St. Mark's Episcopal Church organized in Bridgewater. 
1812. A fever epidemic occurred that carried off by death 

fifty-eight persons in two and a half months. 



110 The Past and Present 

1814. St. Peter's Lodge No. 21, F. A. M. leased land of Eli 
Starr to build Lodge on. 

1814. Baptists at Northville organized a Church known as 
the New Milford Baptist Church. Eleazer Beecher was 
licensed to preach the Gospel to them. 

1816. Upon the petition of sundry inhabitants in the vicinity 
of what is called Gaylord's Bridge praying a grant of money 
from the town to rebuild the bridge upon Ousatonic River 
at Gaylords Falls, it was put to vote that a sum of $400 be 
granted which was negative; another vote was then put for 
a sum of $300 which was also voted in the negative. 

1818. The New Milford and Sherman Turnpike Company in- 
corporated. 

1819. Wm. Roberts settled in Gaylordsville, erected clothing 
works. 

1822. A convention of delegates met to consider the advisa- 
bihty of building " The Housatonic Valley Canal." Funds 
were raised and an estimate of the expense of construction 
made. The enterprise failed. 

1823. A Baptist meeting-house erected near Lower Merry all 
burying place. 

Glover Sanford began making hats in Bridgewater, 

1824. The first Methodist Church organized by Rev. C. 
Silliman. 

1826. Peter Gaylord appointed first Postmaster, Gaylords- 
ville. 

Union Church building erected, Gaylordsville. 

The trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church at North- 
ville bought of Henry Benson a piece of land for erecting 
a house of worship. 

1827. Sylvanus Merwin erected a store and hotel on west 
side. 

1828-9. A Methodist meeting-house was built at the Corners 
at the old John Warner place in Lanesville. 

1830. Anan Hine, James S. Clark, and George Taylor, and 
such other persons as they shall associate with them, not ex- 
ceeding twenty in the whole, be and they and their successors 




KKV. XOAH POUTKU, D. I)., LI -IX 

Pastor Congregational Church, New Milford, 1S:?()-181-:}; President 
of Yale College, 1871-1HH() 



Story of New Milforb in Chronological Epitome 111 

are made a corporation by the name of " The New Milford 
Fire Company." 

A Baptist Chiirch was organized. 

1832. Roswell and Sheldon Northrop started Machinery busi- 
ness and Foundry in Maryland District, now carried on by 
Jasper A. Northrop in this village. 

1833. Congregational Church erected. 

1835. New Milford Toll Bridge Company incorporated with 
liberty to erect and maintain two toll bridges, one at the 
present in the village, the other at the great falls. 

1836. A special town meeting held February 29, to take into 
consideration the propriety of making an appropriation not 
exceeding $500 to defray the expense of surveying a route 
or routes for a railroad to pass through the town. It was 
voted that the Treasurer be authorized to borrow on the 
credit of the town a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars 
to be devoted to the accomplishment of this object. 

1837. A special town meeting, May 12, voted to grant the 
request of New Milford and Sherman Turnpike Company 
upon the consideration that said company or some other com- 
pany for that purpose to be formed shall build and keep 
in repair a toll bridge at the place commonly called Board- 
man's Bridge. 

1840. The Housatonic Railroad was opened from New Mil- 
ford to Bridgeport. Daniel Marsh was the first station 
agent. 

Highwa}^ from near railroad station to village of North- 
ville, laid out by commissioners, commencing at land of David 
S. Boardman. 

1841. The New Milford Washingtonian Temperance Benevo- 
lent Society organized. Within three years 900 names were 
recorded as members. 

1842. Town appropriated one hundred dollars to assist in pav- 
ing water courses in village provided two hundred and fifty 
dollars be expended by the inhabitants of said village. 

1843. Erected the Housatonic R. R. station which was called 
Merwinsville. 



112 The Past and Present 

The first elm trees in the park were set by Solomon E. 
Bostwick in front of his residence. 

Doct. George Taylor and Albert N. Baldwin appointed a 
committee to purchase a farm for the town. 
1845. The New Milford Republican, the first newspaper in the 

village, was established by J. K. Averill. 
1846-50. " The Housatonic Institute " erected. 
1847. Highway laid out now called Bank street. 

1849. Bridgewater and Brookfield Toll Bridge Company, 
incorporated. 

1850. The present Methodist Episcopal Church erected. 
185S. Bank of Litchfield County organized. 

Albert S. Hill erected a paper mill across the road from the 
Wells Grist Mill. 

Mr. and Mrs. B. J. Stone took charge of " The Housatonic 
Institute." 

1854. The first week in May occurred a great freshet that 
carried away the dam at Gaylordsville ; also the Boardman's 
bridge and the town bridge. 

1855. New Milford Brass Band organized, Earl Buckingham 
leader. 

1856. Bridgewater set off from New Milford as a separate 
town. 

1858. The New Milford Savings Bank organized. 
The Housatonic Agricultural Society formed. 

1860. The Adelphic Institute established by Ambrose S. 
Rogers, A. M. 

In Nov., fire destroyed business portion on south side of 
Bank St. and east side of R. R. St., to the property now 
owned by Ackley, Hatch & Marsh. 

1861. The town voted to pay for the support of the wife, chil- 
dren, father or mother of those persons who enlisted, such 
sums as the Selectmen deemed necessary. 

St. Francis Xavier's Church erected. 

1862. The town voted a bounty of $200 for each resident 
who should enlist, for a certain time. 

Wilham Wells and Edwin S. Wells, sons of Philip Wells, 




JOHN PRIME TREADWELL 
A Native of New Milford. Born 181::2, died 1S7() 



Story of New Milfokd in Chronological, Epitome 113 

purchased the grist-mill on the Aspetuck River a mile above 
Northville. 

1863. The town offered $300 to each person who might be 
drafted. 

Water Witch Engine Company organized. 

1864. The town offered a bounty of $500 for each soldier 
accredited to the town. 

The town authorized the issue of bonds to the amount of 
$21,000 to meet war expenses. 

1865. Bank of Litchfield County changed to First National 
Bank of New Milford. 

1870. The Glover Sanford firm removed to Bridgeport, Conn. 
Ousatonic Chapter, No. 33, R. A. M. organized. 

1872. The Housatonic Ray (newspaper) established. 

1873. Kindergarten school established by Mrs. Andrew Bris- 
tol, Miss Mary C. Wells, assistant. 

The New Milford Water Company chartered, authorized 
capital $25,000. 
1875. Roger Sherman Hall erected. 

1877. The Good Shepherd's Lodge, No. 65, I. O. O. F., 
instituted. 

The first New Milford Savings Bank building erected on 
north side of Bank St. 

The New Milford Gazette established. 

1878. Miss Wells established kindergarten school in her home 
in Jan. 

1882. Upton Post, G. A. R., organized Dec. 20th, with 26 
charter members. 

St. John's Church erected. 

All Saints Memorial Church erected. 
1884. Sunday School established in Merryall. 

1886. Board of Trade established. 

1887. New Milford made a Shire town. 
Iron bridge built at Boardman. 

1888. The great blizzard, March 13. 

1889. The New Milford Button factory burned. 

1890. The new hose house built. 



114f The Past anb Present 

Union Chapel built, Lower Merryall. 
1893. Roger Sherman Chapter, D. A. R., organized. 
1893. Congregational Church remodeled at a cost of $18,300. 
The New Milford Electric Light Company incorporated. 
1897. Public Library and Memorial Hall erected on the site 
of Housatonic Institute, it being the same site that Eli Starr 
leased to St. Peter's Lodge No. 21, F. & A. M., to build 
lodge on in 1814. 

Lime Works at Boardman destroyed by fire. 
A bronze tablet to the memory of Roger Sherman was 
placed on Roger Sherman Hall by Daughters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution. 

1900. Great Fireman's parade, 1,300 men in line. 

1901. A Town Court established. George H. Jackson, ap- 
pointed first Judge. 

1902. Great fire destroyed the business portion of the village. 
May 5. 

President Roosevelt stopped at the station and made a 
speech. 

The Boardman Sunday School Society organized. 
Bridgeport Wood Finishing Company plant burned. 

1903. The New Milford Power Company plant established at 
Gaylordsville. 



RECORD OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES OF 
ROGER SHERMAN 

AS REFERRED TO IN THE COLONIAL DOCUMENTS OF CONNECTICUT 
Contributed by Hon. Ebenezer J. Hill of Norwalk, Conn. 

October, 1745, Roger Sherman appointed to be surveyor for 
the County of New Haven. 

Roger Sherman, surveyor for the County of New Haven, 
appointed in October, 1750, to lay out lands for certain parties 
from ungranted lands of the Colony. 

May, 1751, appointed to lay out certain lands for Williams 
and Crary. 

May, 1751, appointed as one party to view and appraise 
certain lands in the town of Kent. 

May, 1752, made Surveyor for Litchfield County, instead of 
New Haven. 

May, 1752, paid £82, 9s. lOd., in full for his bill for laying 
out land and highways on the west side of Ousatonick River. 
As one of a Committee appointed previous October. 

October, 1753, Roger Sherman, Surveyor for Litchfield 
County, ordered to run the Northwest line of town of Litchfield. 

October, 1754, mentioned as the fifth Selectman of New Mil- 
ford. 

May, 1756, costs of £2, 17s. 4d., assessed against him and 
other proprietors of common land in New Milford in certain 
case. 

May, 1755, Representative in Assembly for New Milford, 
2d. 

August, 1755, Representative in Assembly for New Milford, 
2d. 

October, 1755, Representative in Assembly for New Milford, 
1st. 

115 



116 The Past and Present 

January, 1756, Representative in Assembly for New Milford, 
1st. 

February, 1756, Representative in Assembly for New Mil- 
ford, 1st. 

March, 1756, Representative in Assembly for New Milford, 
1st. 

February, 1756, ordered to eject one Macantire from certain 
public land. 

October, 1756, ordered to inspect certain complaints in re- 
gard to land and report. Report made May, 1757. 

May, 1755, Appointed Justice of Peace for Litchfield Co. 

May, 1756, Appointed Justice of Peace for Litchfield Co. 

October, 1757, Appointed to make deeds for certain public 
lands. 

March, 1758, With others incorporated as Toll Bridge Com- 
pany to own and maintain toll bridge over Ousatonick River in 
New Milford. 

May, 1758, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

October, 1758, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

February, 1759, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

March, 1759, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

May, 1759, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

October, 1759, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

March, 1760, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

May, 1760, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

October, 1760, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

March, 1761, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

May, 1761, Representative for New Milford, 1st. 

May, 1757, 1758, 1759, 1760, and 1761, Justice of Peace, 
Litchfield County. 

October, 1760, 1761, 1762, 1763, 1764, 1765, 1766, and 
1767, in Nomination for Governor. 

October, 1762, Guardian of two Carpenter children au- 
thorized to sell land. 

October, 1765, Appointed as Committee to investigate cer- 
tain legal questions. Report made October, 1766. 

October, 1764, Representative for New Haven, 1st. 



Record of the Public Services of Roger Sherman 117 

May, 1765, Representative for New Haven, 1st, 

October, 1765, Representative for New Haven, 1st. 

May, 1766, Representative for New Haven, 1st. 

May, 1766 and 1767, Chosen Assistant. 

May, 1765, Justice of Peace for New Haven County. 

October, 1765, Justice of Peace for New Haven Count}-. 

May, 1766, Justice of Peace for New Haven County. 

May, 1766 and 1767, Judge of the Superior Court; also, 
May, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1778, & 1779. 

May, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, 17.73, 1774, 1775, 1776, 
1777, 1778, 1779, Chosen Assistant. 

Nominated for Governor, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, 
1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780. 

October, 1768, Appointed to make index of laws. 

May, 1769, Appointed to lay out highway from New Haven 
to Windham. Report accepted May, 1770. 

May, 1771, Appointed to lay out highway, New Haven to 
East Hadam. 

October, 1771, Appointed to purchase some elegant plate to 
present to Richard Jackson, Colonial Agent. Afterwards 
bought in England on account of duty if bought here. 

October, 1771, Assessed in the construction of addition of 
Meeting-house. 

October, 1772, One of joint Committee on Collegiate 
School. 

January, 1774, One of Committee to adjust certain land 
questions near the Delaware and Susquehannah Rivers. 

October, 1773, One of Committee to consider Earl of Dart- 
mouth's letter. 

April, 1775, Wrote and offered resolution appointing Com- 
mittee to present letter of Gov. Trumbull to Gen. Gage, de- 
manding explanation of attack of 19th of April and his future 
plans. 

August 3, 1774, Chosen Representative in Congress. 

February 27, 1775, Purchased 90 kegs of powder, 3,500 lbs. 
lead, 30,500 flints for the Colony. 

October, 1775, Representative in Congress. 



118 The Past and Present 

October, 1776, Committee to visit Army and grade the of- 
ficers appointed by the Assembly. 

May, 1777, Named as member of the Committee of Safety. 

October, 1776 and 1777, Representative in Congress, 1st 
man. 

July, 1777, One of a Committee to confer with Mass., New 
Hampshire, R. I., and New York on the state of the currency. 

January, 1778, Committee to inquire into conduct of foreign 
traders in this State. 

January, 1778, Commissioner to New Haven Convention, 
Chairman of Committee to draw report of Convention. 

May, 1778 and 1779, Council of Safety. 

October, 1778, Representative in Congress. 

January, 1780, Representative in Congress. 

February, 1780, Delegate to Philadelphia Convention to reg- 
ulate prices. 

Representative in Congress 1789 and 1791. Senator 1791 
to 1793. Mayor of New Haven. 



PART II 
THE BI-CENTENNIAL EXERCISES 




-'>^'- ' .-SKUfc-i?!- 



HENRY S. MYGATT 
President of the Bi-Centennial Celebration 



INCEPTION AND ORGANIZATION 

Contributed by Charles N. Hall 

In April, 1906, a call was issued in the columns of the New 
Milford Gazette, asking all citizens to meet at Mygatt's Hall, 
Bank Street, on Monday evening, April 30, to consider the 
project of celebrating the town's two hundredth anniversary. 

About forty citizens responded to the appeal and met at the 
appointed time and place. 

The meeting was called to order by Mr. William G. Green, 
and Mr. Henry S. Mygatt was appointed chairman of the 
meeting. 

After full discussion as to the possibility and advisability of 
such a celebration as that implied in the call, the following 
preamble and resolution were adopted : 

" Whereas, New Milford was first settled in the year of our 
Lord, 1707, and has from a humble beginning gone steadily 
forward in growth and prosperity, through the industry and 
patriotism of its sons and daughters, and the blessings of a 
Divine Providence: 

" And Whereas, It seems fitting that the two hundredth anni- 
versary of this town, now near at hand, should be recognized 
and celebrated by all its citizens in such manner as to confer 
proper dignity upon the occasion ; to call together for a day 
all its children ; to honor the memories of those who contributed 
to its past and present welfare ; to show the industrial, agricul- 
tural, commercial, educational, and religious progress of the 
community throughout the past years ; and to give due thanks 
to the Providence that has watched over it. 

" Therefore it is Resolved: That during the year 1907, upon 
a date to be named at a future meeting, there shall be held a 
celebration to be known as the New Milford Bi-Centennial." 

After further discussion as to forms of organization, it was 
voted : 

121 



122 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

" That in accordance with the spirit of the foregoing reso- 
lution, this meeting shall appoint a General Committee of 
Arrangements, said committee to have entire charge of all ar- 
rangements pertaining to the New Milford Bi-Centennial Cele- 
bration ; to have power to make changes in and additions to its 
own numbers ; to have authority to appoint and organize all 
necessary sub-committees, and the power to direct the work of 
such sub-conmiittees, and to make removals and substitutions 
in such sub-committees ; and to take any and all measures neces- 
sary to carry the foregoing resolution into effect." 

The meeting then appointed a Nominating Committee con- 
sisting of C. M. Beach, W. G. Green, H. L. Randall, S. S. 
Green, G. M. Breinig, and Rev. Marmaduke Hare, to present 
to the meeting the names of those who should constitute the 
General Committee of Arrangements. 

After consultation, the Nominating Committee presented a 
list of those persons who should constitute the General Com- 
mittee, and those so named were by vote declared appointed as 
the General Committee of Arrangements, with the powers and 
duties above set forth. 

It was then voted: 

" That when this meeting adjourns, the chairman of this 
meeting shall have authority to call, at his pleasure, a meeting 
of the General Committee of Arrangements." 

The meeting then adjourned. 

The General Committee of Arrangements met on July 6, 
1906, about one hundred members being present. At this 
meeting a permanent organization was effected, officers elected, 
sub-committees appointed, and a date set for the celebration. 

The officers elected were: 

Permanent Chairman and President, Henry S. Mygatt; 
Vice-Presidents, Andrew G. Barnes, Francis E. Baldwin, 
Stephen C. Beach; General Secretary, Charles N. Hall. 

It was voted: 

" That the Celebration be held on Saturday, Sunday, Mon- 
day, and Tuesday, June 15, 16, 17, 18, 1907." 

It was voted: 



Inception and Organization 123 

" That Sub-Committees be created as follows : 
An Executive Committee, 
A Finance Committee, 
A Committee on Exercises, 
A Committee on Refreshments, 
A Committee on Decoration, 
A Committee on Publicity, 

A Committee of Invitation, Reception, and Entertainment; 
A Committee on Religious Observances, 
A Committee of Public Safety, 

A Committee on Historical Research and Permanent Pub- 
lication." 

It was further voted: 

" That each member of the General Committee pay the sum 
of one dollar, and each member of a sub-committee the addi- 
tional sum of two dollars to the Bi-Centennial fund." 

Subsequently the Executive Committee, acting for the Gen- 
eral Committee, appointed from time to time other sub-com- 
mittees found necessary in the progress of the work. These 
were : 

A Loan Exhibit Committee, 
A Committee on Vocal Music, 
A Colonial Reception Committee. 

The officers and members of the General Committee of Ar- 
rangements were as follows: 

President, Henry S. Mygatt; 
Vice Presidents, Andrew G. Barnes, Frances E. Baldwin, 
Stephen C. Beach; 
Secretary, Charles N. Hall; 
Members 
John F. Addis. Geo. B. Ackley. 

Mrs. John F. Addis. Mrs. Geo. B. Ackley. 

Geo. E. Ackley. Fred Anderson, 

Mrs. Geo. E. Ackley. Mrs. Geo. W. Anthony. 

W. H. Adams. Mrs. Phoebe L. Anderson. 

Victor L. Anderson. Horace A. Allen, 

Eniil Anderson. Rev. J. J. Burke. 



124 



The Bi-Centennial Exercises 



Dr. J. C. Barker, 
Dr. B. E. Bostwick, 
Chas M. Beach. 
Alexander H. Barlow. 
W. G. Brown. 
Charles P. Bentley. 
Reuben Booth, 
i^G. M. Breinig. 
David E. Breinig, 
Henry M. Baldwin. 
Willis F. Bennett. 
Willis G. Barton, 
Dr. Charles P. Blinn, 
Mrs. Wm. D. Black, 
William H. Booth. 
H. B. Bostwick. 
Burton B. Booth. 
Mrs. J. L. Buck. 
Mrs. J. A. Bolles. 
Mrs. Wm. Bostwick. 
Miss Ruth T. Booth. 
Frederick L. Bennett. 
Andrew Buckingham. 
Mrs. Chas. M. Beach. 
Mrs. G. M. Breinig. 
Mrs. A. M. Booth, 
Mrs. H. E. Bostwick. 
Miss C. B. Bennett. 
Miss A. E. Bostwick. 
Miss Helen M. Boardman. 
Miss Kate T. Boardman. 
Miss Grace Buckingham. 
Miss May Brown, 
Miss Adaline L. Buck. 
Mrs. J. C. Barker. 
Mrs. B. E. Bostwick. 
\mos H. Bowers. 



A. C. Bowers, 
Andrew M. Booth, 
Mrs. David A. Baldwin, 
Mrs. Willis F. Bennett, 
Lyman W. Brown, 
Andrew J. Baldwin, 
Noble Bennett, 
E. Noble Bennett, 
Mrs. Merritt Beach, 
Mrs. I. B. Bristol. 
Mrs. Edwin N. Bostwick. 
Daniel B. Brewer. 
Henry Booth. 
WiHam E. Bostwick. 
Rev. T. J. Cronin. 
Andrew C. Clark. 
Mrs. Andrew C. Clark. 
Daniel H. Canfield. 
Lawrence C. Camp. 
Robert B. Clark. 
L. F. Curtis. 
Mrs. L. F. Curtis. 
P. M. Cassedy. 
John D. Clark. 
Alanson N. Canfield. 
Mrs. Geo. N. Canfield. 
Mrs. Lemira J. Carter. 
Howard C. Clark. 
Phineas E. Clark. 
Warren S. Crossman. 
John B. Cox. 
Chas. B. Camp. 
Salmon Couch. 
A. L. Conkey. 
Rev. Frank B. Draper. 
Dr. J. A. Dolan. 
Henry Donnelly. 



Deceased. 





sp:ymour s. green 

Chairman Execviti\-e Committee 



STEPHEN C. BEACH 
Vice-President 





HONORABLE ANDREW G. BARNES 
Vice-President 



FRANCIS E. BALDWIN 
Vice-President 



SOMK OFFICKRS OF THE BI-CKXTKNN I AI. C'Kl.KUH AilON 



Inception and Organization 



125 



Robert L. Duncan. 
- Eben B. Dorwin. 

Myron B. Disbrowe. 

Edwin J. Emmons. 

Mrs. Edwin J. Emmons. 

Albert Evitts. 

Rollin C. Emmons. 

Chas. H. Evans. 

Miss S. C. Erwin. 

Thomas Fuller. 

Munson Fairchild. 

Alban G. Ferriss. 

Samuel J. Ferriss. 

Mrs. Albert Ferriss. 

Henry Ferriss. 

Miss Minnie A. Ferriss. 

Miss Jane Fenn. 

Dr. H. B. Griswold. 

Minot S. Giddings. 

Levi P. Giddings. 

Wm. G. Green. 

Seymour S. Green. 

Henry Garvey. 

Miss Jeanette L. Gaylord. 

William F. Gaylord. 

Fred R. Green. 
* Ethiel S. Green. 

William B. Green. 

George W. Green. 

William Green. 

George H. Gaylord. 

Mrs. James Giddings. 

Rev. Marmaduke Hare. 

Rev. Stephen Heacock. 

J. E. Hungerford. 

Mrs. J. E. Hungerford. 

Walter C. Hine. 



Mrs. Walter C. Hine. 
Mrs. Charles N. Hall. 
J. Stuart Halpine. 
Wm. H. Hartwell. 
Frederick C. Hoyt. 
Henry D. Hine. 
Oliver W. Hoyt. 
Mrs. H. D. Hine. 
Mrs. W. B. Hatch. 
Virgil B. Hatch. 
Merritt W. Hill. 
Mrs. Mary H. Hunt. 
Edson P. Hill. 
Harvey B. Hoyt. 
Martin L. Hungerford. 
Arthur B. Hungerford. 
Sheldon B. Hendricks. 
Mrs. Sheldon B. Hendricks. 
John H. Hall. 
Edward Hendricks. 
Merwin Hine. 
G. W. Hatch. 
G. L. Hamlin. 
Oliver S. Hartwell. 
Roger T. Hartwell. 
Robert J. Hungerford. 
E. D. Howland. 
Minot L. Hartwell. 
John T. Hepburn. 
John M. Hine. 
Frederick W. Hartwell. 
Clark M. Hunt. 
Samuel R. Hill. 
Henry H. Hartwell. 
* Albert S. Hill. 
Allen S. Hill. 
Edgar F. Hawley. 
Deceased. 



126 



The Bi-Centennial, Exercises 



E. F. Hartwell. 
H. C. Ives. 

Rev. Frank A. Johnson. 
George H. Jackson. 
L. N. Jennings. 
Lucius Jackson. 
Michael A. Kelly. 
Dr. F. E. King. 
Mrs. F. E. King. 
W. F. Kinney. 
Mrs. W. F. Kinney. 
Nelson W. Kinney. 
Arthur W. Knowles. 
Henry Kinney. 
Frederick W. Knowles. 
Frederick Knapp. 
Henry Kinney, 2d. 
Joseph La Hait. 
Geo. H. Lines. 
Walter B. Leavenworth. 
Carr S. Lyon. 
Wm. P. Landon. 
Frank W. Marsh. 
A. H. McMahon. 
Mrs. A. H. McMahon. 
Daniel Marsh. 
Chauncey B. Marsh. 
J. B. Merwin. 
Roland F. Mygatt. 
Frederick Merwin. 
Mrs. H. S. Mygatt. 
Miss Grace H. Merwin. 
John H. Morehouse. 
James E. Mullins. 
Miss Carrie H. Marsh. 
Mrs. Margaret Moore. 
Mrs. Carlos Merwin. 



M. H. Mallett. 
Amos H. Marsh. 
James Marsh. 
Miss Lottie Mallett. 
Henry W. Murray. 
Mrs. Henry W. Murray. 
E. B. Marsh. 
E. O. Marsh. 
Mrs. E. O. Marsh. 
Andrew J. McMahon. 
Robert C. Mallory. 
Wm. J. M. Miller. 
* James H. McMahon. 
George Newton. 
Charles H. Noble. 
Russell B. Noble. 
Miss Ella F. Noble. 
Wm. N. Noble. 
Ithamer F. Northrop. 
Jasper A. Northrop. 
Alfred H. Noble. 
Mrs. George Northrop. 
Lawrence Northrop. 
Charles Northrop. 
J. H. Nettleton. 
Charles H. Osborne. 
Wilbur H. Osborne. 
Abram Osborne. 
Wallace W. Osborne. 
Farley Osgood. 
Robert A. Osborne. 
Rev. John F. Plumb. 
John Pettibone. 
Henry H. Pomeroy. 
Wm. B. Pell. 
Mrs. Wm. B. Pell. 
Mrs. Ivory Phillips. 
* Deceased. 



Inception and Organization 



1^7 



Mrs. Clayson S. Perry. 
Charles Planz. 
D. W. Pepper. 
Wm. A. Parcells. 
A. W. Peelstrom. 
John Payne. 
Edgar A. Peet. 
Lewis A. Payne. 
Lehman T. Peet. 
Clinton H. Pomeroy. 
H. Leroy Randall. 
Mrs. H. Leroy Randall. 
William J. Roberts. 
Miss Sarah J. Roberts. 
Mrs. C. E. Riddiford. 
Charles Riley, Jr. 
F. T. Richmond. 
Seeley B. Richmond. 
Mrs. Chas. Randall. 
Mrs. Isaac Reynolds. 
Wm. L. Richmond. 
Levi S. Richmond. 
Nathan H. Root. 
C. E. Riddiford. 
Orrin Roberts. 
Rev. H. K. Smith. 
Dr. Geo. E. Staub. 
Verton P. Staub. 
* Nicholas Staub. 
Turney Soule. 
Chas. H. Soule. 
David E. Soule. 
George T. Soule. 
Frank E. Soule. 
Henry S. Sanford. 
Everett J. Sturges. 
Frederick E. Starr. 



Mrs. Verton P. Staub. 
Vincent B. Sterling. 
Geo. W. Squires. 
Miss Caro S. Sanford. 
Mrs. V. B. Sterling. 
Carl F. Schoverling. 
Henry A. Soule. 
Walter D. Soule. 
Mrs. Catherine Smith. 
Mrs. C. R. M. B. Smith. 
Albert Sterling. 
Wm. W. Stillson. 
Frederick M. Straight. 
James S. Sullivan. 
Israel B. Smith. 
Mrs. Wm. Schoverling. 
Lee Stone. 
Mrs. C. C. Smith. 
Miss Harriet V. Sherman. 
Mrs. Ellen F. Shepard. 
Mrs. Charles Taylor. 
Frederick J. Turrill. 
Arthur G. Todd. 
Cyrus A. Todd. 
Mrs. R. S. Todd. 
Mrs. Henry R. Treadwell. 
Mrs. Lucy Turrill. 
Chas. A. Tappen. 
Miss Martha Treadwell. 
John T. Underbill. 
Rev. S. D. Woods. 
Dr. Geo. H. Wright. 
F. M. Williams. 
Mrs. F. M. Williams. 
Philip Wells. 
Stanley L. Warner. 
Henry O. Warner. 
* Deceased. 



128 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Wm. D. Wanzer. Smith M. Waller. 

A. C. Worlej. E. M. Waller. 

John E. Wells. Frederick L. Wanzer. 

Charles A. Way. Edward A. Wildman. 

Miss Edith Warner. John F. Williams. 

Mrs. C. E. Wright. Newton B. Weaver. 

Miss Charlotte A. Wells. Reuben M. Wilbur. 
Miss Mary C. Wells. 

The members of the special committees — appointed by the 
General Committee * to arrange for and carry out the plans 
for the Celebration — were: 

Executive Committee : Seymour S. Green, chairman ; J. B. 
Merwin, Everett Sturges, Verton P. Staub, Mrs. H. S. Mygatt, 
Mrs. C. M. Beach. 

Finance Committee : H. Leroy Randall, chairman ; Charles 
H. Noble, treasurer; Willis G. Barton, William G. Green, Tur- 
ney Soule, Edwin J. Emmons. 

Committee on Exercises : Charles M. Beach, chairman ; John 
H. Morehouse, clerk ; Wilhs F. Bennett, Frank E. Soule, D. W. 
Pepper, John Pettibone, Mrs. Verton P. Staub, Frederic M. 
Williams, Joseph La Hait, Samuel R. Hill, Chauncey B. Marsh, 
Miss Helen M. Boardman, Miss Ella F. Noble, and the select- 
men of the town, ex officio. 

The Committee on Exercises appointed the following mar- 
shals for the Civic and Military Parade, and the following sub- 
conmiittees to arrange for Colonial features in the Parade and 
for an Automobile Carnival on Monday, June 17 : 

Marshals: Samuel R. Hill, chief marshal; David E. Soule, 
George E. Ackley, Henry O. Warner. 

Committee on Colonial Features : Willis F. Bennett, chair- 
man ; Alfred H. Noble, clerk; William G. Green, Dr. Charles P. 
BMnn, Chauncey B. Marsh, Mrs. J. C. Barker, Miss Helen M. 
Boardman. 

Committee on Automobile Parade : Roland F. Mygatt, chair- 

* The President and Secretary of the General Committee were ex officio 
members of all committees. 





Jl. LEIIOY RANDAT>L 
Finance Committee 



W. F. KINX'KV 

Invitation. Reception and Entertainmi'iit 

Committee 





I'REDERICK E. STARR CHARLES P. BENTEEY 

Music Committee Decoration Committee 

CHAIRMEN OF SOME BI-CEXTENNIAL COMMITTEES 



Inception and Organization 129 

man ; Henry D. Hine, Dr. B. E. Bostwick, Robert Dunlap, S. 
Woolsey Pepper, George T. Soule. 

Committee on Refreshments : Miss Adaline L. Buck, chair- 
man ; J. Edwin Hungerf ord, clerk ; H. C. Ives, Vincent B. Ster- 
ling, Mrs. Charles N. Hall, Mrs. Margaret Moore, Mrs. A. C. 
Clark, James E. Mulhns, Wm. L. Richmond, Mrs. Walter C. 
Hine, George E. Ackley, P. M. Cassedy, Dr. B. E. Bostwick, 
Emil Anderson. 

Committee on Decorations : Charles P. Bentley, chairman ; 
Wm. B. Pell, Dr. Charles P. Blinn, John F. Addis, Geo. T. 
Soule, Frederick L. Bennett, Henry D. Hine, Mrs. F. E. King, 
W. H. Adams, A. W. Peelstrom, Levi P. Giddings. 

Committee on Publicity : Charles N. Hall, chairman ; W. G. 
Brown, Dr. Geo. H. Wright, A. C. Worley, David E. Breinig. 

Committee on Invitation, Reception and Entertainment: W. 
F. Kinney, chairman ; Miss Sarah J. Roberts, secretary ; Russell 
B. Noble, Mrs. Frederic M. Williams, Mrs. H. S. Mygatt, Mrs. 
Albert H. McMahon, Henry S. Sanford, Andrew C. Clark, 
Stanley L. Warner, Mrs. Isaac Reynolds, Alexander H. Bar- 
low, Andrew J. Baldwin, Charles Northrop, Mrs. George B. 
Ackley, Mrs. C. E. Wright, Miss Caro S. Sanford, Mrs. Chas. 
Taylor, Mrs. Wm. Bostwick, Mrs. Catherine Smith, Mrs. H. E. 
Bostwick, Orrin Roberts, Mrs. Merritt Beach, Alanson N. Can- 
field, Albert Evitts, George H. Jackson, Mrs. Wm. B. Pell, 
Miss A. E. Bostwick, Francis E. Baldwin, Oliver S. Hartwell, 
Mrs. E. O. Marsh, Henry Ferriss, Miss Jeannette L. Gaylord, 
Seeley B. Richmond, Mrs. Carlos Merwin, J. B. Merwin, Mrs. 
W. D. Black, Mrs. J. L. Buck, Mrs. Phoebe L. Anderson, Mrs. 
Henry R. Treadwell, Mrs. Wm. G. Green, Mrs. G. H. Jackson, 
Chas. B. Camp, Cyrus A. Todd, and the selectmen of the town, 
ex-officio. 

The chairman of this committee appointed Albert Evitts, 
chairman of reception ; Henry S. Sanford, chairman of 
entertainment. 

Committee on Religious Observances : Rev. Frank A. Johnson, 
chairman; Rev. John F. Plumb, Rev. Frank B. Draper, Rev. 
T. J. Cronin, Rev. J. J. Burke, Rev. Marmaduke Hare, Rev. 



130 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Stephen Heacock, Rev. H. K. Smith, Rev. S. D. Woods, Rev. 
T. J. Lee. 

Committee of Public Safety : Henry Donnelly, chairman ; 
Charles Planz, Albert H. McMahon, L. N. Jennings, Charles 
Reilly, Chas. H. Osborne. 

Committee on Historical Research and Permanent Publica- 
tion : Minot S. Giddings, chairman ; Russell B. Noble, Mrs. 
Henry E. Bostwick, Miss Charlotte B. Bennett, Miss Kate T. 
Boardman. 

Committee on Loan Exhibit: Dr. George H. Wright, chair- 
man ; Wm. B. Pell, C. Andrew Humeston, Miss Flora G. Still- 
son, Herman C. Buckingham, Mrs, Clarissa R. M. Staples, 
Miss Jeanette L. Gaylord, Miss Mabelle Sanford. 

Committee on Vocal Music : F. E. Starr, chairman ; Prof. 
Edwin G. Clemence, director ; Henry C. Harris, Mrs. H. S. 
Mygatt, Rev. H. K. Smith, Mrs. M. W. Hill. 

Committee on Colonial Reception : Stephen C. Beach, chair- 
man ; W. F. Kinney, Wm. G. Green, J. Stuart Halpine, Charles 
M. Beach, Henry S. Sanford, Roland F. Mygatt, Frank W. 
Marsh. 

All the committees worked nobly and in perfect harmony. 

Upon the Finance Committee devolved the responsibility of 
raising the necessary funds, and the duty was splendidly per- 
formed. Solicitors were appointed in each district of the town, 
and furnished with books in which subscriptions were pledged 
to be paid on or before April 1, 1907. The solicitors, besides 
the members of the Committee, were : Henry W, Murray, Oliver 
W. Hoyt, Henry M. Baldwin, Nicholas Glennon, Nelson W. 
Kinney, Edgar A. Peet, John W. Pulver, John T. Underbill, 
Daniel Marsh, Walter C. Hine, Millard B. Dorwin, Charles H. 
Evans, Chauncey B. Marsh, Henry S. Mygatt, Charles N. Hall. 

So successful was this canvass that the needed funds were all 
subscribed before May 15. The result speaks volumes for the 
enterprise and systematic work of the Finance Committee, as 
well as for the generosity and public spirit of New Milford's 
citizens. 

The Executive Committee met frequently to authorize ap- 



Inception and Organization 131 

propriations and receive reports, and, in May, opened an office 
in the Knapp Building on Bank Street, the second floor of that 
building having been very generously placed at their disposal 
by Mr. Frederic Knapp of Hartford. 

Meetings of all the Chairmen of Committees were occa- 
sionally held, and were found very useful in promoting the 
work. 

The Committee on Exercises had the greatest task to perform 
in arranging a suitable and comprehensive programme of ex- 
ercises for the entire Celebration, co-operating as to Sunday's 
exercises with the Committee on Religious Observances. In 
order to secure full participation in the Parade, District Com- 
mittees were appointed throughout the town, to look after 
Parade features in their respective localities. 

These Committees were : 

Lower Merryall: F. C. Merwin, H. W. Murray, S. B. 
Hendrix, W. D. Stone, John Pepper. 

Waller: John T. Underbill, Smith Waller, Thomas Austin, 
Alexander H. Barlow. 

Hunt: Nelson W. Kinney, M. W. Beers, Earle Morehouse, 
Chester Lyon. 

Long Mountain: Henry M. Baldwin, H. H. Pomeroy, Wm. 
Pomeroy. 

Gaylordsville : Chas. H. Evans, Wm. Gaylord, Chas. H. 
Soule, George Newton, Wm. J. Roberts. 

Northville: Francis E. Baldwin, A. C. Bowers, E. B. Buck- 
ingham, Walter C. Hine. 

Still River: Percy Collins, Fred P. Chase, Stanley L. Warner, 
Chas. H. Stevens. 

Park Lane: N. H. Root, James S. Sullivan, W. B. Leaven- 
worth. 

Hill and Plain: Wm. D. Wanzer, Arthur E. Knowles, Mer- 
win P. Hine, Geo. W. Hatch. 

Second Hill: Robert Duncan, Robert J. Hungerford, Mrs. 
A. C. Clark, Mrs. J. A. Cowan, Mrs. T. Walsh, Wm. Hartwell, 
Millard B. Dorwin, Joshep Cowan, Miss Alice Beers, Mrs. Wm. 
Johnson, Mrs. Hans Ahlstrom. 



132 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Upper Merryall: V. B. Hatch, Israel B. Smith, A. H. Squires, 
Geo. W. Squires, Fred M. Straight. 

Pickett: Nicholas Glennon, Mervin Andrews, Leslie Marsh. 

Chestnut Land: Ivory Phillips, P. E. Clark, Howard C. 
Clark, Frank Erwin, Fred Anderson, E. F. Hartwell, Samuel 
Thompson. 

Aspetuck: Daniel Marsh, Joseph Hill, E. Noble Bennett, 
Levi S. Richmond. 

Boardman: Oliver W. Hoyt, Andrew G. Barnes, Sheldon 
Northrop. 

The District Committee on refreshments were: 

Upper Merryall: Mrs. Geo. B. Ackley, Geo. W. Squires; 
assisted by Mrs. Wm. Birkins, Mrs. Frederick Squires. 

Lower Merryall: Mrs. Carlos P. Merwin, Mrs. Geo. N. 
Abbott, Mrs. H. W. Murray. 

Hunt: Mrs. Myron W. Toohey. 

Northville: Mrs. Walter C. Hine, Miss Elizabeth Baldwin. 

Chestnut Land: Miss May Galvin, Edgar Phillips. 

Second Hill: Mrs. Robert J. Hungerford, Mrs. Joseph A. 
Cowan. 

Park Lane : Mrs. Mary D. Bostwick, Mrs. Wesley Northrop, 
Mrs. Edward C. Howland. 

Boardman: Mrs. Oliver W. Hoyt, Mrs. Henry W. Kimlin ; 
assisted by the Christian Endeavor Social Union. 

Waller: Mrs. Thomas Austin, Mrs. Smith M. Waller. 

Gaylordsville : Mrs. Arthur Hungerford, Mrs. J. A. Dolan. 

Long Mountain: Mrs. Henry M. Baldwin, Miss Minnie 
Pomeroy. 

Aspetuck: Mrs. Levi Richmond, J. Fred McEwan. 

Hill and Plain: Mrs. Robert Osborne, Arthur E. Knowles. 

Lanesville: Mrs. Laura Campbell, Mrs. Nora Dickey, Mrs. 
Horace A. Allen. 

Pickett : Mrs. Edward O. Marsh, Mrs. Daniel B. Brewer, Miss 
Bessie Adams. 

Center: Mrs. W. C. Beeman, Miss Kathleen Duncan, Mrs. 
Robert S. Todd, Mrs. Timothy Heacock, Miss Bessie I. Brown, 
Mrs. V. B. Sterling, Mrs. A. M. Booth, Mrs. P. M. Cassedy, 





EDWIN G. CLEMENCE 

Conductor of the Chorus 



MISS ADALIXE L. BLCK 

Chairman Refreshment Committee 





CHARLES .1. RYDER, I). D. 
One of the Speakers 



HENRY DONNEl.l.Y 

Chairmiii l'ul>!ic Safety C uniiittce 



Inception and Organization 133 

Mrs. W. M. Keeler, Mrs. Albert Sterling, Mrs. Emil Anderson, 
Donald E. Hungerford, Francis Mulcahy, Clifford Castle, 
Mrs. James E. Mullens. 

The Committee on Decorations furnished the town with a 
fine public flag pole and flag, to be used first at the opening 
exercises of the Celebration. The committee also carried out 
the beautiful plan of decoration and illumination on Main 
Street. 

The Committee on Publicity kept the Celebration before the 
public in many ways. Printed envelopes of the Bi-Centennial 
were furnished to the citizens to the extent of several thousand. 
One thousand very attractive cards were sent throughout the 
State, and frequent items were published in all the newspapers 
of the State. This committee also published the official Pro- 
gramme of the Celebration. 

The Committee of Invitation, Reception, and Entertainment 
devised, addressed, and sent out the official Invitations ; arranged 
for the official reception of all guests ; and. In many wa^'s, made 
all guests feel truly welcome. This committee arranged for 
Reception Headquarters and a Bureau of Information In Roger 
Sherman Hall during the Celebration. 

The Committee on Religious Observances had charge of the 
exercises on Sunday, June 16, and arranged so well that this 
proved to be one of the most delightful days of the Celebration. 

The Committee of Public Safety, co-operating with the select- 
men of the town, provided most complete arrangements for the 
preservation of order and the safety of property throughout 
the days and nights of the Celebration. 

The work of the Historical Committee was difficult and im- 
portant in a high degree, and the task of collecting all the his- 
torical facts needed, and presenting the whole in attractive and 
interesting form, kept all the members extremely busy up to 
the opening of the Celebration. The committee received most 
practical and valuable assistance from The Grafton Press of 
New York City, which not only contracted to publish the book 
of the Bi-Centennial, but In many ways facilitated the prelim- 
inary work. This firm agreed to report, for the book, the entire 



134 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

proceedings of the four days, and, to this end, established a 
representative on the spot some days in advance, to remain 
throughout the Celebration. The reportorial work was under 
his direction. 

The Loan Exhibit Committee were tendered the use of Grand 
Army Hall, through the kindness of Upton Post, and began 
early to look up all articles of historic value and interest. The 
amount of work involved was very great, but was most success- 
fully accomplished. 

The Committee on Colonial Features made preparations which 
contributed very greatly to the interest and success of the 
parade, spending a great deal of time and thought in represent- 
ing the scenes of old Colonial days. 

The Committee on Colonial Reception prepared the hall and 
made all arrangements for one of the most pleasurably antici- 
pated events of the Celebration. 

The Committee on Vocal Music, under the direction of Pro- 
fessor Edwin G. Clemence, prepared an elaborate musical pro- 
gramme and gave abundantly in time and efforts to perfect this 
most important portion of the exercises. 

Rest Houses for women and children were established at va- 
rious convenient places, in readiness for the crowds anticipated. 

James C. Barker, M. D., and T. B. Merrin were appointed a 
Committee of Public Health and Comfort. 

Owing to ill health, Mr. Henry O. Warner was unable to 
serve as Marshal, and Walter C. Hine was appointed in his 
stead. 

The Marshal's aides appointed for the Parade were: 

FIRST DIVISION 

Perry Green. Miss Madeline Todd. 

Noble Booth. Miss Louise Beeman. 

Charles Pomeroy. Miss Parthenia Todd. 

second DIVISION 

Dr. C. B. Blackman. George S. Dean. 

Spencer Welton. 



Inception and Organization 135 

third division 

Granville Breinig, W. M. Keeler. 

Clifford A. Trowbridge. 

FOURTH DIVISION 

James Marsh. W. C. Beeman. 

Clifford Marsh. 

From January, 1907, up to the opening day on June 15, all 
the committees worked arduously and unceasingly to make the 
Bi-Centennial a success. Less opposition and discouragement 
were met than are usual in such enterprises, and to the public- 
spirited and loyal citizens of the town belongs the credit of all 
this work, so triumphantly accomplished. 



THE OPENING EXERCISES 

There never was a time and place, perhaps, in which a keener 
interest was taken in the weather than at New Milford during 
the days immediately preceding the Bi-Centennial Celebration. 
One of the most backward and inclement springs known to New 
England history seemed to have bequeathed all its inclemency 
to the summer month of June, and, on the afternoon of Friday, 
June 14, not only were the signs few and feeble that summer 
had come, but the sky was extremely threatening. The boldest 
prophet did not venture to predict fair weather for the fol- 
lowing day with any approach to positiveness ; and, under the 
besetting dread of a down-pour which would ruin the beautiful 
Bi-Centennial decorations already in place on " The Green," 
and interfere sadly with the Bi-Ccntennial exercises (most of 
which were to be in the open air) New Milford faces wore an 
expression of anxiety that was piteous to see. Saturday came 
without rain and without clouds, however, and, better still, 
brought with it that light, luminous haze, which, in this part 
of the world, presages a spell of dry weather — an augury that, 
happily, was to be fulfilled. The rows of white pillars with 
gilded capitals (typifying the Colonial architecture) and the 
clusters and festoons of national colors and navy signal flags 
(typifying our present national greatness), which constituted 
the official decoration of " The Green," assumed new splendor 
in this highly favorable light, while the private decorations, 
which had been delayed somewhat by the fear of rain, were 
brought to completion so rapidly that, by noon, the town was 
literally enveloped in flags and patriotic and Colonial bunting. 
Promptly at four in the afternoon the Doxology pealed 
forth from the chimes of All Saints' (played by Prof. Clem- 
ence) and was quickly taken up by the voices of the large con- 
course gathered on " The Green " about the band-stand, on 

136 







— . c 



O r 




The Opening Exeecises 137 

which the chairmen of the Bi-Centennial committees were seated. 
Rev. Frank A. Johnson invoked the blessing of God upon the 
coming Bi-Centennial ceremonies in an impressive prayer, after 
which " America " was played by the band (Gartland's of Al- 
bany) and sung by the audience. Charles N. Hall, Secretary 
of the General Bi-Centennial Committee, then stepped forward 
and delivered the following address of welcome : 
" CiTizEKs AXD Friends : 

" For this seems the most comprehensive and fitting title 
by which to address such an assemblage as this ; since many 
of you are citizens, and all of you are friends of New Milford. 
Citizens and friends then ; to one and all ; to those of you who 
are citizens; to those of you who were New Milford born, but 
have found other homes ; to those of you whose forefathers 
were once New Milford's children; to each and every one of 
you, and to all guests yet to come, the General Committee of 
the Bi-Centennial, speaking for this entire community, extends 
a most heartfelt welcome. 

" But our welcome is tinged with regret ; regret that these 
words cannot be spoken to-day by the one man that is best fitted 
for, most entitled to, that honor. Those of you who have 
worked during these months of preparation, and all who know 
him, will bear witness that no man living has done more for 
this Celebration ; no man living could have greeted you more 
gracefully or with greater sincerity than would our honored 
President, Henry S. Mygatt, were he present. But though 
not with us in person, we know that he is so in thought; that 
his hopes and best wishes are with us to-day. 

" It is difficult to find words fitting for an occasion like this, 
for no occasion like this has ever before confronted us. 

" For the first time in her history, New Milford fittingly cele- 
brates a birthday anniversary. For the first time in her history, 
New Milford has planned a great general home-coming of all 
her scattered children. For the first time, we shall see, during 
these four days, all our own people gathered together in a 
common cause: and it is not likely that any now living will 
ever see them so gathered again. 



138 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

" This then is The Event, not merely of the years, but of 
the centuries ; an event which must occupy a place unique and 
unapproached in the history of our town ; and words may 
well fail to express the sentiments which such an occasion must 
inspire. 

" Since that day in the year 1707, when the pioneer, John 
Noble, first traversed the wilderness to this place, up to this 
day of June, 1907, every event and circumstance, toil and 
danger, hardship and prosperity, peace and war, all have been 
but successive steps leading to this Celebration, and making it 
possible. And, in this Celebration, we mark not this anni- 
versary alone, but celebrate as well all that has gone before. 

" We celebrate the founders of our town ; the heroic men and 
women who, by their toil, their courage and their faith, not 
only made New Milford, but helped to lay the corner-stone of 
this nation. Every event in this, our Celebration ; this Hag- 
raising ; the splendidly impressive service of Sunday ; the his- 
toric addresses, and the reception of Monday ; the imposing 
parade of Tuesday ; all were planned, not only to afford 
pleasure and entertainment for our guests, and to glorify the 
New Milford of to-day, but also to commemorate and glorify 
the past. 

" But while we celebrate New Milford, past and present, 
what shall we say of the New Milford to come.^^ Shall not the 
civic pride, and energy, the patriotism, that have inspired this 
Celebration, continue to be moving forces toward a better New 
Milford.? Shall not some of the thousands who visit us, im- 
pressed with the attractions of our town, remain and help us 
to make a greater New Milford.? 

" New Milford has done wisely and well to inaugurate this 
home coming, for such home comings are vitally essential to 
the right life and growth and prosperity of any community. 

" New Milford is proud of her history ; proud of her position 
among the hills and towns of old Litchfield County, in this 
blessed commonwealth of Connecticut; proud of her business 
enterprise, of her schools and churches ; and proud of her chil- 
dren, whom she welcomes home to-day. 



The Opening Exercises 139 

" You are here, not as chance visitors, or strangers, but as 
members of one great family. We ask jou to be not only with 
us, but of us at this time ; to become, for the time being, citizens 
of our town, and would be glad to have you become so in fact. 

" New Milf ord and its Celebration are yours ; be at home with 
us ; survey the attractions of our town ; visit and greet old 
friends ; enj oy the Celebration to the utmost, and then if you 
must leave us, take with you the kindest thoughts, and happy 
memories of the Bi-Centennial." 

At the close of this address, the band, playing " Auld Lang 
Syne," marched to the south end of " The Green " (the chair- 
men of the committees, the New Milford Cadets under command 
of Capt. Gifford Noble, and the audience falling in behind) 
to the new, white, eighty-foot flag pole, which had been erected 
there under the supervision of Grand Marshal, Samuel R. Hill. 
To the strains of the " Star Spangled Banner," Mr. Hill, as- 
sisted by Lewis W. Mosher, ran a new flag * up the pole, while 
the Cadets stood statue-like near its base. As the flag touched 
the peak, a cannon salute was fired by a firing squad under the 
direction of Samuel R. Hill, Jr. This was a signal for the play- 
ing of " We'll Rally Round the Flag, Boys," by the band, for 
the blowing of factory whistles, and the ringing of church bells ; 
and, with this acclaim, the formal opening of the New Milford 
Bi-Centennial Celebration was ended. 

* Presented by Charles P. Bentley of Booth, Bentley & Co. 



THE LOAN EXHIBITION 

The Loan Exhibition in Memorial Hall was opened to the 
public at ten o'clock Saturday morning, several hours in ad- 
vance of the formal ceremonies of welcome described above, 
and was kept open during the entire four days of the Celebra- 
tion. It proved an agreeable surprise, not only to the guests 
of the town, but to the townspeople themselves, who had no 
idea how rich their homes were in relics of the past until they 
were thus brought together for this Bi-Centennial occasion. 
Indeed, it was pronounced by competent judges one of the 
most interesting collections of antiquities ever seen in the State 
of Connecticut. By its aid, any person possessed of the slight- 
est imagination could easily reconstruct the every-day exist- 
ence (in-doors and out-of-doors) of the ancestors, and could 
even divine the intellectual, moral and religious ideas and ideals 
which governed them. Besides the local relics associated di- 
rectly with the New Milford life of yore, were a number of 
curiosities from remote corners of the globe, which testified 
to the important role played by natives of New Milford 
in earlier times as merchants, ship-owners, travellers, and 
missionaries. 

These various richly-stored heirlooms were a source of great 
joy to the aged, whose observations and reminiscences, as they 
moved about among the show-cases, were well-nigh as fasci- 
nating as the exhibits themselves ; and a means of instruction 
for the young, to whom most of the objects displayed appeared 
as strange as if they had been brought from another planet. 

The finest thing about this exhibition, however, was the pub- 
lic spirit it exemplified. The committee in charge met scarcely 
a refusal from the persons to whom they applied for loans, 
and, once the character of the undertaking was understood, 
volunteers came forward in such numbers that twice the space 

140 



The Loan Exhibition 141 

afforded by the G. A. R. rooms might have been filled, had it 
been available. 

Many of the visitors expressed regret that so remarkable 
a collection must be scattered so soon and a hope that New 
Milford would one day see its way clear to maintaining a per- 
manent exhibition of the sort. And it would not be surprising 
if the ultimate outcome of this loan exhibition should be a 
museum of antiquities, since a large proportion of the exhibitors 
would gladly contribute their treasures to the common-weal, 
if a specially-constructed, fire-proof building should be provided 
for the conservation of them. 

A complete list of the exhibits is given herewith : 
Henry Kimlin : 

1. Razor dated 1688. 

2. Pair of spectacles. 
Minot S. Giddings : 

3. A deed to Jonathan Giddings of a tract of land on the 

Connecticut Reserve of Ohio, given by Elijah Board- 
man, Homer Boardman, David S. Boardman, Stanley 
Griswold, of New Milford, Ct., Elijah Wadsworth, 
Frederick Wolcott, Litchfield, Ct., and Zepheniah 
Briggs of New Fairfield, Ct. Dated 1800. 

4. Razor. Portrait of Washington engraved on blade. 

5. Sampler, Ruth Buck, date 1786. 

6. Bible, Ruth Buck, date 1771. 

7. Copy of "Washington's Political Legacy," 1800. 

8. Copy of " Gertrude of Wyoming," date 1809. 

9. Copy of " Life of Dr. Benjamin Franklin," by himself, 

date 1795. 

10. " The Federal Calculator," 1802. Samuel Giddings. 

11. The Prayer Book, 1795. Ebenezer Sanford. 
Fred'kE. Starr: 

12. Section of Pulpit of Meeting-house, 1754. 
Mrs. Arthur Caldwell: 

13. Grandmother's jewelry. 

14. Pin, 1816. 

15. Floral comb. 



142 The Bi-Centennial, Exercises 

16. Candle tray and snuffer. 

17. Fluid lamp. 

18. Vase. 

19. Bowl. 
Dr. L. J. Pons : 

20. Canteen, Civil War. 
Ljman Caldwell: 

21. Collection of arrow heads. 
Wm. H. Marsh : 

22. Pie platters, that the extra good pies of our grand- 

mothers were baked in. 

23. Churn. This churn is probably over a hundred years old. 

24. A bottle of the Eighteenth Century. 

25. A bottle of the Eighteenth Century. 

26. A doll's cradle used fifty years ago. 
Fred'k Berry : 

27. Dress sword and sash. Presented to Capt. F. M. Berry, 

by Company H, 2d Conn. Artillery. 
F. A. Johnson: 

28. Tea pot, buried in the War of 1812, with other valuables, 

to prevent its falling into the hands of the British. 

29. Rifle shot, picked out of the side of a Confederate forti- 

fication at Atlanta, Ga., where they had been fired in 
by General Sherman's troops. 

30. French lancer's spear head, picked up on the battlefield 

of Waterloo, soon after the battle. 

31. Arrow given by " Dave," one of the party of Modoc 

Indians who killed Gen. Canby. Secured in the In- 
dian Territory. 

32. Strip of Confederate flag, which was lowered from the 

Capitol at Richmond at the surrender, when the city 
was captured. Confederate money from Gen. Lee's 
treasure chest. Captured at Appomattox. 
L. T. Peet: 

33. Trencher and knife, used before the Revolution. 

34. Candle-stick, used by Alba Peet 150 years ago, he being 

a shoemaker and working evenings. 



The Loan Exhibition 143 

35. Rock-salt pounder, used by my grandfather, Samuel W. 

Peet. 
Henry E. Squires: 

36. Green and white coverlet. Wool raised, spun, and woven 

in Merryall. 

37. Plaid blanket. Wool raised, spun, and woven in jVIer- 

ryall. 
Mrs. F. A. Mallory: 

38. Flowered coverlet. 
Mrs. G. B. Ackley : 

39. Pair of silver candle-sticks, candle snuffers and tray. 
G. B. Ackley: 

40. Book, 1809, specimen of penmanship. 
Mrs. G. B. Ackley: 

41. Bible, 1806. Almanacs, 1803 to 1814. 
L. E. Peet: 

42. Water Yoke. Over 100 years old. 
James H. Cole: 

43. Collection of papers. Deed and other papers. 
Mrs. E. J. Sturges: 

44. Discharge paper. 

45. Old paper, 1754. 
Lottie A. Waldron: 

46. Sugar-bowl. 

47. Pair of glass candle-sticks. 
May G. Brown : 

48. Portraits of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Holman, painted in 

Boston in 1819 by Prof. Morse, (inventor of the tele- 
graph) just before they sailed as members of the first 
band of missionaries to the Sandwich Islands. They 
were great grandparents of May G. Brown. 

49. Journal of Mrs. Thomas Holman, one of the first mis- 

sionaries to the Sandwich Islands in 1819. Written 
on board the brig Thaddeus. Mrs. Holman's daugh- 
ter was the first white child born in the Sandwich 
Islands, and Mrs. Holman was the first woman to go 
around the world. (See Nos. 50 & 114.) 



144 The Bi-Centennial Exeecises 

50. Feather cape and wreath, red, yellow and black, worn by 

the native chiefs of the Sandwich Islands. Made from 
thousands of feathers of a rare bird, but one feather 
suitable being found on each. These articles were 
given by Kamahameha I. to the Holmans (mission- 
aries). They are no longer made and there are few, 
if any, like them now in existence. They are, there- 
fore, of great value. (See Nos. 49 & 114.) 
Ruth T. Booth: 

51. Casters, over 100 years old. 

52. Coffee pot, over 100 years old. 

53. Platter, over 100 years old. 

54. Plate, over 100 years old. 

55. Cup and saucer, over 100 years old. 

56. Tea set, 11 pieces, 125 years old, fonnerly owned by 

my great-grandmother, Ruth T. Downes. 
Harriet V. Sherman: 

57. Sampler. 
Mrs. Mary E. Stone: 

58. Spectacles and goggles. Arrow head and bayonet. 
D. C. Kilbome: 

59. Lottery tickets. Sold by the first Cong'l Church Society 

of Bridgewater to raise money to build the church 
edifice. 
Mrs. S. D. Woods: 

60. Daily paper with the account of the funeral of George 

Washington. 1799. 
Dr. L. J. Pons: 

61. Rapier, used by Capt. Eli Booth, (1800) Milford, Ct. 

62. Revolutionary sword. 

63. Lantern from two-wheeled physician's chaise, used by 

Dr. Myron Downs, 1830-1860. 

64. Bayonet and sheath, 1812. 

65. Old English dagger. About 1790. 

66. Lantern. 

67. First glass lantern. About 1840. 

68. Dragoon's helmet, 1775. Bearskin bush. 



The Loan Exhibition 145 

69. Dragoon's flint lock pistol. 1775. 

70. Old English pistol. 
Mrs. George Trieschmann : 

71. Lutheran Bible, 1784. 
Mrs. Chas. M. Beach: 

72. Tea caddy. This was made at Read's Pottery in Lower 

Merryall, about the year 1780. It was part of a tea 
set which Mercy Sperry (who married Sylvester 
Wheaton) had when she went to housekeeping. 

73. Livitations to assembly balls, one hundred years ago. 

74. Grape shot, picked up on the battlefield of Waterloo, 

about the year 1820, by Rev. Nathaniel S. Wheaton, 
D. D. 

75. Half-cent, American coin, 100 years old. 

76. Brazilian dump, coin worth about Si cents. 

77. Powder horn taken from the dead body of an Indian by 

Capt. Theophilus Baldwin, a volunteer in the French 
and Indian Wars, while Baldwin was on a scouting 
party. The Indian shot at him from ambush, and 
missed. Theophilus did not miss. 
Mrs. H. H. Hartwell: 

78. Flint lock gun. Carried through Revolution. 

79. Gun. Carried by a French officer in the Revolutionary 

War. Afterwards changed from a flint lock to a 
percussion lock. 

80. Cartridge belt and cartridges, used in Revolutionary 

War. 

81. Autograph bond of Roger Sherman. 

82. Brigade orders, Gen. Sedgwick. 

83. Two commissions, Joseph Hartwell. As ensign. As lieu- 

tenant. 
Geo. N. Canfield: 

84. Cane, made from the hull of Old Ironsides. Inscription 

on head : " From the hull of the Constitution, first 
built in 1798, and dear to Americans for having suc- 
cessfully fought the Java, Guerrierre, Cyane, and 
Levant, the bombardment of Tripoli in 1812, and also 



14)6 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

for her miraculous escape from the British Squadron. 
Presented to R. E. Canfield by S. Oaks, Esq., U. S. N." 
Dr. G. Bragaw: 

85. Fhnt lock gun with bayonet. 
Edward H. Beach: 

86. Indian battle axe. 
Mrs. E. H. Austin: 

87. War club, Sandwich Islands. Made from root of a 

tree. 

88. Quilt, hand spun and woven. 
Mrs- Hannah Fuller Austin : 

89. Commission of Abraham Fuller. He was afterward 

Captain of Connecticut troops, most of his men being 
from Kent. 
E. H. Austin: 

90. Pewter flagon. Supposed to be 150 years old. Belonged 

to Mills family of Kent. Authentic record of age 
for more than 100 years. It was an old flagon when 
this record began. 

91. English army belt clasps. Picked up on the field of 

Waterloo a few days after the battle. Forty-second 
Somerset. 
Mrs. Thomas Austin : 

92. Britannia tea pot. More than 100 years old. 
A. H. Barlow: 

93. An old deed, given to William Barnes of Haddam, by 

Samuel Barnes in 1734. Also some of the Continental 
money. 

94. Daguerreotype, Gaylord's Bridge. 
Mrs. A. H. Barlow: 

95. Embroidered apron, 65 years old. 

96. Collection of handkerchiefs and chemisette, over 65 years 

old. 

97. Lace bonnet, worn in 1868. 

98. Stockings knit by Mrs. Joseph Marsh for her eldest 

daughter, Mrs. Laura Bailey, and worn by each of 
her six children. 



The Loan Exhibition 147 

A. H. Barlow : 

99. One spoon of a set given to the grandmother of A. H. 

Barlow as part of her " setting out." Made of silver 
dollars in 1799. 
Mrs. A. H. Barlow: 

100. Spoon, 1830. 

101. Old jewelry, 2 lockets and 3 pins. Tortoise shell combs. 

102. Three old lace veils. 
Mrs. Edward Dakin : 

103. Tea canister. Belonged to my great-grandmother, and 

used by her during her hfetime. Purchased in the 
year 1770. 
Marion D. Underbill: 

104. Netted lace, made from flax, raised by my great-great- 

grandfather on Kent Mountain ; spun by my great- 
great-grandmother ; and netted by my great-great- 
aunt, over eighty years ago. 
Miss E. A. Bailey : 

105. Cane, brought from England. Has been in the Bailey 

family for 209 years. 
Mrs. A. B. Giddings: 

106. Tea pot, brought to New Milford in 1707 by Zachariah 

Ferriss. Was the only tea pot in town. 

107. Toddy tumbler and vinegar cruet, one hundred and 

fifty years old. 
Harriet A. Taylor Lee: 

108. Coat worn by Wm. Taylor as Colonel of Militia, 1789. 

109. Colonel Wm. Taylor's duelling pistols, 1789. 
Mrs. Chas. Taylor: 

110. Pewter porringer, 200 years old. 

111. Dr. George Taylor's wedding hat, 1825. (See No. 255.) 

112. Pewter candle-stick, very old. 
Bessie I. Brown : 

113. Chinese chest, very old. 

114. Calabash, very old. Used for carrying water. (Wicker 

work encloses a gourd.) This calabash and the 
Chinese chest were presents received in 1852 from 



148 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

China by the Hohnans, missionaries to the Sandwich 
Islands. (See Nos. 49 & 50.) 
Chas. N. Hall: 

115. New England Courant, 1723. Published by Benjamin 

Franklin. 
Elsie Cummings : 

116. Basket, used in Miss Cummings' family 125 years ago. 
Mrs. Eli Clark : 

117. Ink stand and sand well. Has been in my family for 

125 years. 
Mrs. P. E. Clark: 

118. Hair brush, made by my grandmother, Lucinda Young, 

when a girl 12 years old, 96 years ago. 

119. A history, 108 years old, previously owned by Dr. Silas 

Castle of Roxbury, Conn., my great-grandfather. 

120. Iron mortar and pestle. 

121. Wooden water bottle. 
Elsie Cummings : 

122. Foot stove. 
Mrs. P. E. Clark: 

123. Barrel. 
Mrs. EH Clark: 

124. Warming pan. 
Mrs. Carlos Merwin : 

125. Plate, Spanish bull fight, 1795. 

126. Brittania tea pot, 75 years old, " Muskmelon " pattern. 
Fred C. Merwin: 

127. Constitution of Union Library, New Milford, 1796, 

the first in town. Sec. Elisha Bostwick, ancestor of 
owner. 
Mrs. Carlos Merwin : 

128. Bead bag, 72 years old, hand made. 

129. Sampler, 76 years old. 

130. Knapsack. 

131. Bell that rang the "Minute Men" in, used by David 

Merwin in Merryall. 

132. Musket. 



The Loan Exhibition 149 

133. Plate, 75 years old. 
Mrs. A. G. Barnes : 

134. Sugar-bowl, 200 years old. 

135. Cup and saucer, 150 years old. 

136. Cup and saucer, 75 years old. 
Mrs. C. T. Staples: 

137. Seal of Wm. Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, public and 

private seal. 

138. London Post, (1738). 

139. Play bills. 

140. Doll, 50 years old. 
F. E. Baldwin : 

141. Punch tumbler, from Isaac Stone Tavern, Park Lane. 

142. Ancient lantern. 

143. Powder horn, taken by Hezekiah Baldwin from body 

of Indian shot by him near Lake George In French 
and Indian War, about 1756. 

144. Pitch pipe, used by Jeremiah Baldwin in giving the 

key to choir of Congregational Church, New Milford. 
F. E. Baldwin: 

145. Grain fan, fanning-mill of " Ye Olden Time." 

146. Foot stove. 

147. Warming pan. 

148. Candle mould. 
Frank H. Beach : 

149. Crepe cloth flowers (framed). 
Mrs. Wm. E. Stone: 

150. Masonic apron. 
Flora G. Stillson : 

151. " New England Primer," 150 years old. 
Henry Harmon Noble: 

152. Two discourses delivered at New Milford, December 

14, 1800, by Rev. Stanley Griswold, it being the 
Sabbath next after the decease of Rev. Nathaniel 
Taylor. 
Homer Wanzer : 

153. Receipts (from 1796 to 1800). 



150 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Mary Bostwick Kelly: 

154<. Silver sugar tongs and six tablespoons. Sixteen tea- 
spoons which belonged to Elisha and Betty Bost- 
wick ; over 100 years old. 
Mrs. W. D. Black: 

155. Portrait, Sally Northrop, Born June, 1776; died De- 

cember, 1876- 
Miss J. L. Gaylord: 

156. Hand-made counterpane. 
Mary Bostwick Kelly : 

157. Portrait, Col. Elisha Bostwick, born Dec. 17, 1748. 

158. Portrait, Betty Ferris Bostwick, born in 1768. 

159. Portrait, Jared Bostwick, born May 24, 1787. 

160. Portrait, Betsy Ann Bostwick, born July 11, 1792, 

161. Picture, "The Old Bostwick Homestead." Has been 

in the family for 200 years. 

162. Framed contract for house (1780). Cap and mitts 

worn by Elisha Bostwick, when he was baptized, in the 
year 1749. 

163. Watch. Bull's-eye watch, carried by Colonel Elisha 

Bostwick through the Revolution. 

164. Watch carried by Jared Bostwick. Over 100 years old. 
Fred C. Merwin: 

165. Indian hatchet and arrow-head, found on the farm of 

the late David Merwin, a " Minute Man." 
Mary Bostwick Kelly: 

166. Shawl, Betty Ferris Bostwick; 125 years. 

167. Jackknife. 
Mabel Marsh: 

168. Ancient tea pot. Was brought over from Ireland about 

100 years ago. At one time owned by Mrs. Mabel 
Baldwin. 
Mrs. George Marsh: 

169. Old-fashioned shade glasses. Worn by Col. Adolphus 

Hallock nearly 100 years ago, when driving cattle, 
travelling on foot and horseback from Ohio to New 
Milford. 



The Loan Exhibition 151 

Dr. B. E. Bostwick: 

170. Old will and inventory, 1739. 

171. Deed, 1720. 

172. Certificate, survey by Roger Sherman, 1748. 
J. B. Merwin: 

173. Pine-tree shillings, 1652. 

174. Hour-glass, used in the Revolution. 

175. Six books, 1753, 1771, 1784, 1800, and 1805. New 

England Primer. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Wells: 

176. Bandanna handkerchief, owned by John Turrill, a sol- 

dier of the Revolution. 

177. Parchment and bobbins, used by Roger Sherman's 

mother in lace-making. 
Miss Catherine Wells: 

178. Continental money. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Wells : 

179. Linen apron, 100 years old. 
Miss Catherine Wells : 

180. Paper dolls, 40 years old. 

181. Linen skirt, 46 years old, hand-made. 
Mrs. John D. Clark: 

182. Candle stand, 100 years old. 

183. Two sets silver spoons, one set 125 years old, the other 

set 100 years old. 

184. After-dinner coffee cup, 125 years old. 

185. Sugar-bowl with lid, 125 years old. Sugar-bowl with- 

out lid, 100 years old. 

186. Work basket, over 100 years old. 

187. Deed of land in New Milford, 117 years old. Deed of 

land on Long Mountain, 172 years old. Equation 
table, showing how much a clock should be faster or 
slower than a sun-dial, or the sun on the meridian. 
George Thatcher: 

188. Two knives and a fork. George Thatcher's grand- 

father, Michel Gould, used these 140 years ago. 

189. Pocketbook, 1790. 



152 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Mrs. Chas, Taylor: 

190. Fireplace griddle; fireplace waffle iron; skillet for 

baking hoe cake (coals put underneath and on top) ; 
fireplace gridiron ; fireplace chop broiler ; fireplace 
toaster ; fireplace baking-kitchen ; fireplace iron 
fork ; fireplace frying-pan ; fireplace roasting- 
kitchen, 100 years old. These and the other fire- 
place fittings were so grouped as to form a most 
realistic picture of the fireplace of ye olden time. 

191. Old foot stove. 
E. J. Sturges : 

192. Rapier, carried by Ebenezer Perry, of Col. Andrew 

Burr's regiment, of Fairfield, at the fall of Louis- 
burg, June 17, 1745. 

193. Portrait, Mrs. Mary Sturges, who witnessed the burn- 

ing of her home in Fairfield, by the British, July 
9, 1779. 
Minot S. Giddings : 

194. Silver spoon. A spoon or a set of spoons, made from 

silver dollars, was presented by Mary (Baldwin) 
Giddings to each of her children, with her initials 
engraved on them. Jonathan Giddings and Mary 
Baldwin were married Jan. 2, 1766. 
W. 0. Corning: 

195. Bassoon, over 100 years old. 

196. Serpent, over 100 years old. 
Mrs. Salmon Couch: 

197. Flannel dress goods, 1844, colored and woven by Mrs. 

Sarah Peet and Mrs. Goodsell. 

198. Tin-baker, over 100 years old. 
Mrs. F. M. Williams: 

199. Pewter tankard, 100 years old. 

200. Child's linen skirt, over 100 years old. 

201. Connecticut Courant, 1799, containing account of 

death of George Washington. 
Mrs. Dan. Clark: 

202. Hand-made wedding veil (100 years). 



The Loan Exhibition 153 

Mrs. T. T. Marsh: 

203. Portrait, Dr. Jehiel Williams, one of the first doctors 

of New Milford (1815), and grandfather of the 
late T. T. Marsh and of Edward W. Marsh of 
Bridgeport, Ct. 
Mrs. Chas. Taylor : 

204. Early Colonial pewter basin. 

205. Early Colonial pewter tea set. 

206. Pewter platters. 

207. Pewter platters. 

208. Fluid lamp, one of the first sperm-oil lanterns, carried 

by Dr. Geo. Taylor. 
Flora Geer Stillson : 

209. White satin wedding shppers and sash. Rachel Ann 

Bostwick and John Stillson, married in June, 
1774. These articles loaned by their great-grand- 
daughter. 

210. Crepe shawl, figured with nasturtiums, worn by Mrs. 

John Stillson on trip of the first train run on the 
Housatonic Railroad, 1840. Loaned by her grand- 
daughter. 

211. Bead bag on linen, worked by Loretta Geer in 1823, 

when she was ten years old. Loaned by her grand- 
daughter. 

212. Bead bag, worn by Mrs. John Stillson. About 75 

years old. 

213. Sampler worked by Almira Turrill in 1824. Loaned 

by her grandniece. 
L. T. Peet: 

214. Sickle, used for cutting grain, 125 years old. 

215. Toby jug, made in Jersey City pottery, 60 years ago. 
Miss Helen M. Boardman : 

216. Miniature of Major Lawrence, of the British Army, 

a nephew of Mrs. Wm. Taylor of this town. 
Miss Kate T. Boardman : 

217. Locket, owned by Mrs. Wm. Taylor. She was the 

daughter of the second minister of this town. 



154 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

The Misses Boardinan: 

218. Candle-sticks, brought from Warwick, England, and 

used in the days of Queen Anne. 

219. Japanese tray and cups, brought from Japan in 

1854 by Frederic A. Boardman, who was in Com- 
modore Perry's expedition to that country. 

220. Bas-rehef of George Washington, owned by Judge 

David Sherman Boardman in 1820. 
Miss Rose Murdoch: 

221. Decanter and glasses, presented by the Marquis de 

Lafayette to David C. Porter, in Paris, in the year 
1825. 
Mrs. C. A. Smith: 

222. Chair, 150 years old. 
Peter Peterson: 

223. Pitcher. 

224. Bottle. 

225. Two pictures and silver spoons made in 1600. 

226. Brass scenes, brought from Denmark. 
Harriet A. Taylor Lee: 

227. Stamp, Greek word, meaning " Quit yourself like a 

man." Belonged to Rev. Nathaniel Taylor, 1748. 

228. Baby stocking of Harriet D. Allen (1806), afterwards 

Mrs. George Taylor. 
Mrs. C. N. Hall: 

229. Picture, old Canfield Homestead, 150 years. 
Mrs. Mary D. Bostwick: 

230. Bible, Thomas Wells, 100 years. 
Mrs. H. R. Treadwell: 

231. Box made of a fragment of the old ship " Constitu- 

tion." 

232. Sampler worked by Ruth Taylor, afterwards Mrs. 

Elijah Downes. Loaned by her granddaughter. 

233. Autograph of John Hancock. 

234. Cut from a bill of fare of a banquet given to Henry 

Clay, printed on satin. His autograph added. 

235. Seal of completion of Erie Canal, 1825. 



The Loan Exhibition 155 

Mrs. H. R. TreadweU: 

236. Poi'trait of Roger Sherman. 
Charles B. Camp : 

237. Silver pipe, smoked during Revolutionary War. Over 
, 100 years old. 

238. Bible, pubhshed in 1639. 
Mrs. Chas. B. Camp : 

239. Patch box, from estate of Alex. Rosseguie, a Huguenot 

of France. Loaned by his great-great-grand- 
daughter. (See No. 287.) 

240. Towel, 200 years old. From estate of Alex. Resse- 

guie. 

241. Candle-stick, from estate of Alex, Rosseguie. 
Charles B. Camp : 

242. Fife, used in Revolutionary War by John Camp. 

Loaned by his grandson. 
Jay Cogshall: 

243. Silver spoon, 1787. 

244. Spoon mould and spoon, 200 years old. 
The Misses Wells : 

245. Samplers worked by Mary G. Sherman, afterwards 

Mrs. Stephen Wells. 
L. N. Jennings: 

246. Piece of gun picked up on battlefield of Antietam a 

few days after the battle. 
Mrs. Eli S. Roberts : 

247. Cup and saucer formerly owned by Mrs. Eunice Clark 

Morris. Over 100 years old. 

248. Mrs. Cornelia Morris Young's baby shoes, 86 years 

old. 
Mr. E. P. Hill: 

249. Basin, platter, and plate, used by Capt. James Buck, 

who was married to Roger Sherman's sister. 

250. Documents: Raising recruits for Continental Army. 

Tax List, 1781. 
Elizabeth H. Noble: 

251. " Old London Penny Postman." Accurate portrait 



156 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

brought from England by Mrs. Henrietta Burritt 
about 1800. Loaned by her great-granddaughter. 

252. "Wife of Old London Penny Postman." Portrait. 
Mrs. Helen B. Carr: 

253. Portrait. Mrs. Susan Masters Blackman, granddaugh- 

ter of Rev. Nathaniel Taylor. 

254. Picture, " Old Masters House." 
Mrs. T. E. Stewart: 

255. Trousers. Dr. Geo. Taylor's, worn when he was two 

years of age, and first calico brought to New Mil- 
ford (1804). The man who wore the hat (No. Ill) 
wore the trousers twenty-one years earlier. 

256. Baby's dress. Embroidered by Mrs. Nathaniel Tay- 

lor for her son. Dr. Geo. Taylor, in 1802. 

257. Slippers, worn by Dr. Geo. Taylor. 

258. Collar, made by Harriet Allen (afterward Mrs. Geo. 

Taylor) while attending the Moravian School. 
Mrs. H. S. Mygatt: 

259. Portrait, Colonel Samuel Canfield, of the Revolution- 

ary Army. 

260. Wood from Roger Sherman's house. 

261. Old English pewter cup. 

262. Whale oil lamps, from Stonington, Conn. Over 100 

years old. 

263. Fluid lamp. 

264. Silver tea set, belonged to Tamar Boardman Taylor, 

daughter of Rev. Daniel Boardman, and wife of 
Rev. Nathaniel Taylor. 

265. Silver spoons, used by Noadiah and Clarissa Mygatt. 

266. Silver spoon, marked T. M. (T. Mygatt). 

267. Pewter dish, French pewter, dated 1777. 

268. Old pewter lamp. 
D. K. Crofut: 

269. Quilt, warming pan, and ancient hoe. 

270. Flint lock musket. 
May G. Brown: 

271. " Tapa " cloth, made from bark by natives of the 

Sandwich Islands. 



The Loan Exhibition 157 

Mrs. H. S. Mygatt: 

272. Cane. Belonged to Philo Canfield, son of Col. Samuel 

Canfield. 
Roger Sherman Chapter, D. A. R. : 

273. Warming pan. 

274. Foot stove, used in the Congregational Church, New 

Milford, 1812. 
Mrs. G. W. Wright : 

275. Picture of New Milford. 
A. E. Taylor : 

276. Piano, age unknown. 
Lehman T. Peet: 

277. Indian work basket, made by Rachel Mauwehu, a squaw 

of the Schaghticoke tribe, about 1847. 

278. Thread stand, about 125 years old. 
Congregational Church : 

279. Chair, belonging to Rey. Nathaniel Taylor, second 

pastor of the Congregational Church, from 1748 to 
1800. 
Mrs. B, F. Humeston: 

280. Fireplace cooker. Used in 1775. 

281. Cuff buttons, made in 1797 from ore found in Rox- 

bury, 
Mrs. S. E. Bristol: 

282. Pitcher, Staffordshire, 175 years old. 
Mrs. S. E. Bristol: 

283. Silhouette, 90 years old. Wilham Bristol, father of 

Isaac B. Bristol. 

284. Miniature, 80 years old, Heman Crane. 

285. Cake basket, 100 years old. 
Mrs. H. R. Treadwell: 

286. Massachusetts Gazette and Boston News Letter of 

1775. 

287. Patch box, as used by fashionable ladies of the 17th 

and 18th centuries, to contain black patches, cut in 
various shapes and sizes, to stick on the face, sup- 
posedly to heighten the brilliancy of the complexion 
by contrast. 



158 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Bessie Kennedy: 

288. Shears, hand wrought, date unknown. 
Annie Kennedy : 

289. Ink well, hollowed out of a solid piece of soapstone. 
E. Kennedy: 

290. Skillet. 
Jeannette L. Gaylord: 

291. Old Honiton and point lace. 

292. Old embroideries. 

293. Portraits, Mr. and Mrs. Ebenezer Gaylord, about 

1798. 

294. Shell cameo. Portrait of owner's uncle, W. L. Jewitt, 

1840. 

295. Old rum bottles and liquor jug, the latter being used 

in olden times to carry to the hayfields. 

296. Indian needle-case and horn spoons. 
W. F. Gaylord: 

297. Three Indian implements. 
Mrs. Theodore Carlson : 

298. Swedish bracelet. Wood and iron watch chain, Swedish. 
Jeannette L. Gaylord: 

299. Lace evening cloak. 1850. 
Mrs. Henry Hine: 

300. Articles from Martinique: Lava; tile from old cathe- 

dral ; goblets which went through fire ; pictures of 
Martinique after the eruption. 

301. Pottery vase from Equador, between 400 and 500 years 

old. 

302. Asphalt, from Asphalt Lake, La Brea, Trinidad. 

303. Pottery from Fort de France, Martinique. 

304. Tea pot from Cuba. 

305. Chocolate bean and picture, Trinidad. 

306. Two photos, Kingston, Jamaica. 
Mrs. Charles Taylor: 

307. Miniature of Mrs. Margaret Craft. Painted just be- 

fore her marriage in 1832. She is now 97 years old. 



The Loan Exhibition 1^9 

308. Miniature of Mr. James Craft in 1832. 
Harriet A. Taylor Lee: 

309. Badge of Israel Putnam in a Greek Society at Yale 

College, 1776. Given by him to Wm. Taylor. 

310. Prayer Book, English, pubHshed during the reign of 

King George and Queen Carohne. Belonging to 
Colonel Wm. Taylor. 
Mrs. E. A. Wildman: 

311. Pewter platter, 130 years old. 
Mrs. Henry Hine: 

312. Anklet, or Hindoo bracelet. 

313. Alligator. 

314. Candle-stick, Trinidad. 

315. Poinsettia bean, Martinique. Nutmeg, Puerto Cabello. 

Betel nut (natives chew to blacken teeth) . 
Miss A. E. Bostwick: 

316. Sampler, 1831, made by Lucy M. Sanford (after- 

wards Mrs. William Bostwick), when nine years old. 

Mrs. C. A. Smith: 

317. Brass candle-stick, made by hand in 1767. 

318. Legal document bearing signature of Roger Sherman. 

319. Pocketbook made by Kent Wright, the first white child 

born in Kent, Conn. 
Mrs. Lily Traver: 

320. China, 18 pieces, very old. 

321. Cuff buttons, hand-made, Chinese. 

322. Indian implements and bead bag. 

323. Silver spoons, very old. 

324. Candle-stick. 

325. Coins and bill (Confederate). 

326. Breastpin and ribbon, 100 years. 

327. Book and old documents. Account of third and last 

voyage of Capt. Cook, in 1776. 
328 Salt-cellar. 
329. Map, drawn by Sarah Northrop (afterwards married 

to Col. Starr) in 1822. 



160 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Mrs. J. Leroy Buck: 

330. Tea caddy. Owned by Mrs. Ithamar Canfield, born 

Jan. 2, 1770. Loaned by her great-granddaughter. 

331. Dressing case, owned by Ithamar Canfield, bom Feb. 

19, 1761^; died Apr. 11, 1848. 

332. Document. Share in Toll Bridge Co. 
Lawrence Northrop: 

333. Sword, carried in War of 1812. 
WiUis F. Bennett: 

334. Powder horn, used in Revolutionary War by Sam 

Bennett. 

335. SnufF box, used by Isaac Baldwin, soldier in the Revo- 

lutionary War. 
Flora G. Stillson : 

336. Invitation to opening ball at the New England House, 

Dec. 11, 1856. 
J. H. Nettleton: 

337. Indian relics, found in New Milford. 
Helen M. Boardman: 

338. Chinese idols, brought from China in 1854 by Fred- 

eric A. Boardman. 
The Misses Boardman: 

339. Gondola hook, used in Venice by the nobility in the 

early part of the 17th century. 
Miss Rose Murdoch: 

340. English miniature, mother of Mrs. David Murdoch. 

341. Mexican ivory, very old. 
Albert Evitts: 

342. Vegetable dish, used by Dr. Williams. Old willow ware. 
Mrs. H. S. Mygatt: 

343. Bull's-eye watch, over 100 years of age. 

344. Bouquet holder, 75 years old. 
Helen M. Boardman : 

345. Compass, made from tree sent by Thomas Jefferson to 

Mount Vernon, and planted by General Lafayette. 
Martha D. Treadwell: 

346. Watch, 75 years old. 



The Loan Exhibition 161 

34>7. Jewelry, very old. 
J. H. Nettleton: 

34<8. Flint lock pistol. 
Mrs. Nettleton: 

349. Hand-made collar, 60 years old. 
Congregational Church: 

350. Picture of Rev. Noah Porter, D. D., LL. D., pastor of 

the Congregational Church 1836-1843. Afterwards 
President of Yale College. 
Russell B. Noble: 

351. Picture of house (now standing) on the plains about 

two miles south of the village of New Milford, with 
the deed, dated 30th day of May, in the 12th year 
of his Majesty's reign, A. D. 1772, conveying it to 
his son, Ezra Dibble Noble, by Zadok Noble, grand- 
son of John Noble, the first settler. 

352. Silhouette picture of Charles Clement Noble, son of 

Ichabod, son of Ezra Dibble, son of Zadok, son of 
David, son of John Nohle^ who settled in New Mil- 
ford, A. D. 1707. 

353. Three commissions signed by Governors : Jonathan 

Trumbull, John Treadwell, John Cotton Smith. 

354. Dr. William Gordon's " History of the Rise, Progress, 

and Establishment of the Independence of the 
United States of America," in 4 volumes. Published 
in London, 1788. 

355. Map of New Milford, published by Richard Clark, 

1853. 
Mrs. Henry Brinsmade: 

356. Picture, Mrs. George N. Mallory, born in New Mil- 

ford, Sept. 17, 1808. Now living in New Haven. 
This picture was taken at the age of 97. 
Geo. B. Ackley: 

357. Bellows, over 100 years. 
Mrs. Charles E. Marsh: 

358. Bible, leather-covered, printed 1696. From my grand- 

father, Allen Marsh. 



162 The Bi-Centennla.l Exercises 

Chas. E. Marsh : 

359. A reel. 

360. Double linen wheel. 

361. Foot stove. 

362. Single linen wheel. 

363. A spinning wheel, for wool. 
Mr. E. P. Hill: 

364. Iron fire dogs. 
Miss Sarah J. Roberts : 

365. A Pilgrim staff, brought to New Milford in 1750 by 

Mr. Eli Roberts. 
Mrs. Arza Morris : 

366. Ancient gridiron. 

367. Reel. 

368. Swift. 

369. Linen wheel. 

370. Wheel for spinning wool. 

371. Blue and white blanket (Phcbe Vehe). 

372. Blue and white blanket. 

373. Hatchel for flax. 
Mrs. Eli Welton: 

374. Old mirror. 

375. Sunrise quilt, home spun and woven. 

376. Tulip quilt. 
Mrs. Carson B. Mead: 

377. Map of original thirteen States. About 1785. 

378. Gun used in Revolutionary War. 

379. Indian hatchet and pistol. * 
Mrs. Grace C. Wellwood: 

380. Hanging iron lamp. 
David Bamum: 

381. Button-hole cutter. 
Mrs. Hannah More Jessup : 

382. Candle-stick, used in Piatt's Tavern in Bridgewater, in 

1820. 

383. Whale-oil lamp. 



The Loan Exhibitiok 163 

384. Geography, 1807. 

385. Tent lantern of Gen. Burgoyne, taken by a Bridge- 

water soldier at the time of his surrender, at Sara- 
toga, 1777. Gen. Burgoyne's own lantern. 

386. Lantern belonging to one of the first settlers of New 

Milford (Bostwick) and used in the War of 1812. 

387. Tripod wooden candle-stick. 
Mrs. Dora K. Sanford: 

388. Glass lamp, 1850 or earlier. 

389. Pewter lamps, about 1800. 

390. Lard lamp, about 1770. 
Mrs. Horace Allen: 

391. Masonic pitcher. 
Boardman Wright: 

392. Autograph letter of Daniel Webster. 

393. New England Weekly Journal, April 8, 1728, an early 

number of one of the first newspapers published in 
this country, the first number of the Boston News 
Letter (the first newspaper) having appeared Apr. 
24, 1704. 

394. Country Journal and Poughheepsie Advertiser, 1787 

to 1789. Contemporary account of Washington's 
first inauguration. 
George W. Murphy: 

395. Iron tea-kettle, over 100 years old. 
Mrs. Henry Ives : 

396. Silver spoon, made from silver coin earned by spinning 

(1799), by the grandmother of Deacon Henry Ives. 
H. C. Ives : 

397. Silver tea-pot, about 100 years old. OwTied by the 

grandfather of H. C. Ives. 
Mrs. H. C. Ives: 

398. Sugar-tongs, made from silver dollars in 1825, at the 

silversmith establishment of Stanley Sanford Bald- 
win, for his bride, Harriet Stevens. Grandparents 
of Mrs. H. C. Ives. 



164 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

399. Brass candle-sticks, over 100 years old. 
F. J. Turrill: 

400. Deed, from Daniel Boardman, 1729. 

401. Plow, used bj John Turrill, a Revolutionary soldier. 
William B. Pell: 

402. Collection of Continental currency. 

403. Pewter mug, part of the camp outfit of the 24th regi- 

ment of Napoleon's cuirassiers. From the room 
which the Duke of Wellington occupied after the 
battle, and known to have been used by him. 

404. Club, made from a part of the ram " Merrimac " of 

the Confederate Navy. Sunk at the engagement 
at Hampton Roads, Va., by U. S. S. " Monitor." 
W. F. Gaylord: 

405. Gun, used in three old wars. Carried by Zephaniah 

Briggs, when 24 years old, in French and Indian 
War ; in the Revolutionary War by the same man 
at 46 years of age; and in the War of 1812 by the 
same man at 78. He lived to be 103. 
Mrs. S. E. Bristol: 

406. Old China, 100 and 150 years old. 
Mrs. H. C. Ives: 

407. Collection of old china, 97 pieces, all very old. 
Mrs. P. L. Anderson: 

408. Roman mosaic jewelry, 60 or 70 years old. 
Mrs. Henry R. Treadwell: 

409. Autograph letter of Gen. Washington. 
Mrs. W. H. Percy: 

410. Silhouettes, Stanley Sanford Baldwin and wife, 1825. 

Mexican medal, presented by State of Louisiana to 
Zachary Taylor, Major General. 
Miss M. E. Hine: 

411. Sampler, worked by Alta Eliza Gaylord, 1829. 
Mrs. G. W. Wright: 

412. The idol of the royal family of the Sandwich Islands. 

Presented to a missionary by Kamehameha I. 

413. Taper for reading, age unknown. 



414. Spoon, formerly the property of Daniel Boardman, 



The Loan Exhibition 165 

i 414. S] 

who was ordained the first pastor of the Congrega- 
tional Church, then called the " Church of Christ," 
Nov. 21, 1716. The spoon is marked: 
B 
D I 
B is for Boardman, D is for Daniel, I is for Jerusha, 
his wife. 

415. Latin Psalter, 1509. 

416. Prayer Book. Changed from the English ritual to 

American P. E. ritual in handwriting of Bishop Pro- 
vost. It lay on the altar of Trinity Church, New 
York, for many years previous to the Revolution. 
When the church burned down during the occupancy 
of New York by the British, the cinders from the 
burning roof left their marks on the cover. 
Boardman Wright and Rev. F. A. Wright: 

417. Pictorial German Bible, 1692. Formerly property of 

Rev. J. Friedrich Schroder, minister in the German 
Lutheran Church, in Mecklenburg. 
Mrs. Boardman Wright : 

418. Silver chatelaine. 

419. Scarf. 

420. Scarf. 

421. Sandalwood fan. 

422. Hand-painted fan, sticks, mother-of-pearl, gold inlaid. 

423. Fan, sticks, mother-of-pearl, silver inlaid. 

424. Lace, Rose Point and Duchesse. 

425. Old lady's cap. 
Boardman Wright: 

426. Invitation, Dance Programme and Menu. Ball given 

in honor of Prince of Wales (now King Edward 
VIL), in 1860. 

427. Silver tankard, property of Daniel Boardman, the first 

minister of New Milford. Probably brought from 
England by Samuel Boardman in 1633. 



166 The Bi-Centennial Exeecises 

Mrs. Florence Buck Loonan : 

4£8. Clock, more than 150 years old. Wooden works, made 
with a knife. 
Raymond Goodsell: 

429. Indian arrow-heads in case. 
Mrs. C. H. Allen: 

430. Lustre pitcher, about 150 years old. 

431. Sugar-bowl, over 100 years of age. 

432. Lafayette Cup. 
Mrs. G. W. Wright: 

433. Chair, property of Madame Boardman (Mrs. Daniel 

Boardman), wife of the first minister of New Mil- 
ford. 
Boardman Wright: 

434. Hat badge (U. S. Engineers). Worn by Gen. Robert 

E. Lee through the Mexican War. 
Dr. G. H. Wright: 

435. Old wooden fireplace, frame and mantel. Old fireplace 

crane. 
Mrs. Henry E. Bostwick: 

436. Commission, William Gaylord, 1723. 

437. Two commissions, Benjamin Gaylord, 1760 and 1762. 

438. Sword captured during the Revolutionary War from 

the Tory leader. Wade Vaughn, by the Gaylord 
Band. 

439. Silver, over 100 years old, showing style of engraving 

at that time. Initial of both husband and wife, D. 
T. M. — David and Tamasin Merwin. 

440. Pitch-pipe used in the old Congregational " Meeting 

House." 

441. Powder horn, carried through the Revolutionary War. 

442. Piece of the wedding dress of Mrs. Abel Seeley, mar- 

ried before the Revolutionary War. It is home- 
spun linen and hand-woven, in imitation of French 
muslin. 
Mrs. Henry E. Bostwick: 

443. Pewter porringer. 



The Loan Exhibition 167 

444. China. 

Mrs. G. W. Wright: 

445. Tea pot, cup and saucer, imported from China by Hon. 

Elijah Boardman, about 1790. 

446. Holster and flint lock pistols. 
Mrs. S. E. Bristol: 

447. Gold watch and chain, 150 years old. 
E. J. Emmons : 

448. Newspaper, Ulster County Gazette, 1800. Account of 

funeral of George Washington. 
Mrs. C. H. Allen : 

449. Medicine chest, over 100 years old. 
Sadie Strong: 

450. Knitted counterpane, about 40 years old. 
A. H. McMahon: 

451. Millennium plate, over 160 years old. 
Mrs. Henry E. Bostwick: 

452. Engraving of Roger Sherman. 
Mrs. Willis F. Bennett: 

453. Iron peel, nearly 100 years old. Used for placing and 

withdrawing food from the brick oven. 
Dr. G. H. Wright : 

454. White satin suit, worn by Senator Elijah Board- 

man. 
Dr. H. H. Hartwell: 

455. Trooper's coat. 
Mrs. Helen B. Carr: 

456. Dress, made in style shown in London Fashion Book 

of 1799. 
Mrs. Salmon and Fred Buck: 

467. Silver spoon, 150 years old. Cup and saucer used by 
Roger Sherman's sister. 
Mrs. Helen B. Carr: 

458. Sermons of Rev. Daniel Boardman. 

459. Sampler, 1804. 

460. Locket and ring, worn by the grandmother of Mrs. 

Helen B. Carr. 



168 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Will CogsweU: 

461. Dagger found during Revolutionary War. Indian 

Hammer Head. 
Mrs. F. W. Knowles: 

462. China, over 100 years old; 11 pieces. 

463. Flax grown in New Milford by John Caldwell, in 1800. 

464. Tailor's shears, over 150 years old. With these shears 

the lady represented in the daguerreotype of No. 
465 earned by tailoring the gold beads of No. 465. 

465. Gold beads and daguerreotype, very old. 

466. Dress worn by Harriet Beard when married to Charles 

Knowles. 
The Misses Boardman: 

467. Two brooches ; one, tomb of Washington, the other, 

made from the Charter Oak. 
Clarissa T. Staples: 

468. Queen Anne knife and fork, Sheffield plate, made in 

1690. 
Mrs. Ellen Lamson: 

469. Tea pot, 200 years old, brought over from England. 
G. G. Bray: 

470. Tray, 150 years old. 
C. Andrew Humeston: 

471. Wedgewood pitcher; lustre pitcher, very old; cup and 

saucer, 80 years old. 
Mrs. F. E. Starr: 

472. Apron, home-spun linen, worked with crewels. Very old. 
Clarissa T. Staples : 

473. Candle-stick, formerly used by Samuel Treadwell. 
Ormida Northrop Pratt: 

474. Brewster Cup, 150 years old, belonging to Mrs. Mary 

Brewster Beach, whose father was William Brewster, 
second son of Elder Brewster, of the Mayflower. 

475. Sampler, 90 years old, embroidered by ]\Iary Brewster 

Beach, great-great-granddaughter of Elder Brew- 
ster, of the Mai/flower. 






The Loan Exhibition 169 

476. Fan of Mrs. Jane (Mills) Bordwell, wife of Rev. Joel 

Bordwell, pastor of Kent Congregational Church, 
1758-1811. 

477. Purse, 75 years old. 
Mrs. Seymour C. Loomis: 

478. Ring dropped by Lafayette in the house of my great- 

great-great-grandmother, Abigail Starr Taylor, in 
Danbury, during the Revolutionary War. 

479. Brooch. Belonged to Mrs. Ithamar Canfield, worn 

during 1700. 

480. Book, used by Abigail Starr, wife of Major Daniel 

Starr, 1750. 

481. Letter of Abigail Starr, 1756. 

482. Slipper worn by Abigail Starr, 1765. 
Helen M. Boardman : 

483. Brooch (Italian), about 75 years old. 
Miss M. D. Porter: 

484. Door-handle from back door of Rev. Nathaniel Tay- 

lor's house in New Milford, probably made for the 
front door by the old blacksmith, Daniel Burritt, 
whose initials are on it, 1759. When repairs were 
made in the house, in the summer of 1880 or 1881, 
this old latch was taken off and given to Mrs. Mary 
Taylor Porter. 

485. Powder horn (Abel Hine, 1758). 

486. Pulpit Bible, used by Rev. Nathaniel Taylor, who 

was settled in New Milford in 1748, and died after 
a pastorate of 52 years. This Bible was given to 
him by his father, Daniel Taylor, of Danbury. 

487. Silhouette, Rev. Nathaniel William Taylor, D. D. 

(grandson of Rev. Nathaniel Taylor), made b}"^ 
Samuel Metford, New Haven, in 1842. 
Mrs. Chas. Taylor: 

488. Hand-made counterpane. Made for large four-post 

bedstead, of linen, with pattern done in candle wick- 
ing, drawn through. 



THE OLD HOME GATHERING 

The " Old Home Gathering " in Roger Sherman Hall, at 
8 :30 o'clock Saturday evening, was presided over by W. Frank 
Kinney, Chairman of the Committee on Invitation, Reception, 
and Entertainment. Mr. Kinney, by way of welcome, spoke as 
follows : 

" You do not know how hard it is for me to come to-night 
into a place like this. I was asked by the committee to take 
charge of these exercises for reasons that you well know. I 
am asked to give you a welcome to our town. ' Surely, the love 
of home is interwoven with all that is pure, deep, and lasting 
in earthly affection. Let us wander where we may, the heart 
turns back with secret longing to the paternal roof. There all 
the scattered rays of affection concentrate. Time may enfeeble 
them, distance overshadow them, and the storms of life obscure 
them for a season, but they wiU at length break through the 
clouds and gloom, and glow, and bum, and brighten, around 
the peaceful threshold of home.' Thus wrote the poet Long- 
fellow, and I repeat those lines because they express in so much 
better language than it is possible for me to do, the thoughts 
that are uppermost in your hearts to-night. 

" We welcome you to-night to these grand old hills, among 
which your ancestors were born and bred, and where they drew 
the inspiration that made them the men of mark and note of 
their day ; over whose wooded heights you tramped with the old 
gun on your shoulder, looking for the gray squirrel, watching 
for the rise of the partridge, or listening to the distant baying 
of the hound, as he chased the fox along the trail. 

" We welcome you back to these beautiful valleys, where, in 
your earlier days, you bent your back, and, by the sweat of your 
brow, earned your daily bread. We welcome you back to the 

170 



The Old Home Gathering 171 

noble old river, where you swam and bathed in its clear, bright 
waters, or sailed so smoothly upon its bosom, or skated over it, 
in its winter coat, or, perhaps, studied astronomy by counting 
the stars as you lay prone upon your back. 

" We welcome you back to these beautiful mountain streams 
that come tumbling down the hills, and through the valleys to 
the river, which many a day you followed with hook and line, 
trying to entice the speckled beauty from some favorite haunt. 
Welcome back to the little red school house at the comer, where 
you learned your A, B, C's, and to the historic old birch tree 
that stands near by, and of whose branches you still have tender 
memories. Welcome back to the dear old church, within whose 
sacred walls you spent so many hallowed hours, and from which 
you took many of the sweetest, as well as the saddest, memories 
of the old town. 

" Welcome back to the old homesteads, ' Sacred to all that 
can gladden, or sadden, the heart of man, over whose thresholds 
of oak and stone, life and death has come and gone.' We leave 
you there, we cannot cross those thresholds ; but when you come 
forth again, we welcome you to our beautiful village, to the 
festivities of this Bi-Centennial occasion. And to those who 
have come back after a few years of absence, and to those who 
have come to the homes of their ancestors for the first time, you 
will find we have hearts warm enough, and homes large enough, 
to welcome you all. Again I say, welcome, thrice welcome to 
our grand old town." 

Brief speeches, replete with sentiment and reminiscence, were 
made by Rev. George S. Bennitt, D. D., of Jersey City ; Hon. 
Henry C. Sanford, of Bridgewater (formerly a part of New 
Milford) ; Boardman Wright and Timothy Dwight Merwin, 
New York lawyers ; Rev. John T. Huntington, of Hartford, 
and Edwin W. Marsh, a Bridgeport banker — all members of 
families which have been closely identified with New Milford 
interests for several generations. 

The Chairman read the following poem, written for the occa- 
sion by Mary Murdoch Mason, daughter of a former pastor 
of the Congregational Church: 



17^ The Bi-Centennial Exeecises 



HOME 

" Born on these hills, or in this happy vale, 
Our feet turn swiftly toward the well-known trail: 
At all great moments, when the heart is stirred, 
The exile's soul spreads wings hke homing bird. 

" 'Tis in this village church our knees are bent. 
When, 'neath cathedral dome or tropic tent. 
We hear the burial service for the dead, 
'Tis in the old home pew our prayers are said. 

" No brilliant hght in bold, bright city street 
Can dazzle eyes accustom-ed to greet 
That golden splash and sparkle where the sun 
Kisses our River's curve ere day is done. 
You know the spot. We see it from Town-Hill ; 
It stirs our hearts and makes old memories thrill. 

" In Switzerland, the snow-capped heights grow dim, 
Mt. Tom appears, and Guardian Mount with him. 
Rigi's a dream, and even Jungfrau pales. 
While Alpine glow lights up New England dales. 

" Old Ocean's storms and winds for us grow calm, 
The while we dream of Housatonic's charm: 
And we forget the harbor at Trieste 
To float upon Lake Waramaug's dear breast. 

" No bells that ring from far-famed distant towers 
Are half so sweet as those ' First Bells ' of ours. 
And songs that thrill the world were never sung 
As noble as those hymns we loved when young. 

" On London 'bus, or in Pall-Mall's vast crowd, 
Sudden we're walking through a field fresh plowed : 
Upon the steamer's deck far out at sea, 
We hear a robin sing in Main Street tree. 



The Old Home Gathering 173 

" In wind-swept wastes, we're filled with joy, not gloom. 
Because at home th' arbutus is in bloom. 
And when June comes, and roses blow, we say: 
' Oh, for those roses round our porch to-day ! ' 

" But 'tis at night beneath the heavens we cry : 
' These same kind stars with ever-friendly eye 
Upon our well-beloved graves look down, 
Far, far away, in dear New Milford town.' " 

Charles N. Hall, Secretary of the General Bi-Centennial 
Committee, read the following cablegram: 

" London, England, June 15, 1907. 

" Success to the Bi-Centennial and best wishes for the dear 
old town! Deeply regret my absence. Frank Hine." 

He also read the following letter, explaining that, although 
addressed to the Committee, it belonged to all New Milford, 
since it came straight from the heart of one whom all New 
Milford loves: 

" New York, June 11, 1907. 
" Charles N. Hall, Esq., Secretary of the Bi-Centennial As- 
sociation of New Milford, 

" Dear Sir: — 

" Owing to a severe and unexpected attack of illness I am 
reluctantly compelled, acting under the imperative orders of 
my physician. Dr. Allan McLane Hamilton, of New York, to 
relinquish any participation in the Bi-Centennial ceremonies, 
and I, therefore, request that arrangements be made to have 
my duties assumed by the officers upon whom they will devolve. 

" It is impossible for mo to express my deep regret at the 
necessity of giving up any part in these exercises, to which I 
have looked forward with so much pleasure and pride, and my 
profound appreciation of the high honor conferred on me by 
the people of New Milford in electing me President of this 
Association. 

" I desire to extend to them all, through you, my sincere and 
heartfelt thanks ; and to all guests and friends who honor us 



174 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

with their presence on this glad and memorable occasion, and 
whom I hoped to meet personally, I extend a warm welcome and 
a hearty greeting. 

" Very truly yours, 

" Henry S. Mygatt." 

Before and after the exercises of the evening, much informal 
sociability was indulged in, in the course of which many stories 
of old times were exchanged and many old friendships renewed. 
The occasion was a highly enjoyable one, especially to those who 
had come from a distance after an absence of many years. It 
was an " old home gathering " in the best and fullest accepta- 
tion of the term. 



OUR FOREFATHERS 

Written for Bi-Centennial Sunday by Charles N. Hall 

Lord of the Pilgrims ; they who came 
Far over-seas to praise Thy name ; 
Braving the wave, the wilderness, 
Firm in their faith that Thou wouldst bless ; 
Planting upon a new world's shore 
Thy name, their faith, forevermore — 
Grant us, their children, thus to be 
Persistent in our faith in Thee. 

Dark seemed the way ; grim forests frowned, 
Hunger and cold crouched close around 
That Pilgrim band ; while wintry seas 
Rolled wide, 'twixt English homes and these. 
Who, faithful still, to doubt unknown, 
Laid here the Nation's cornerstone. 
Grant us, their children, thus to be 
Unfaltering in our faith in Thee. 

Bitter their sufferings and tears ; 
Hardship and toil marked all the years; 
But through it all Thy saving hand 
Guided and held the chosen band; 
Leading them safely home at last. 
All hardship done, all trials passed. 
Grant us, their children, thus to be 
Guided, sustained, brought home, by Thee. 



175 



THE SUNDAY EXERCISES 

Seemons appropriate to the occasion were preached to large 
congregations in all the churches Sunday morning. These ser- 
mons, in so far as they were liistorical, are reproduced here- 
with: 

BY REV. FRANK A. JOHNSON 
In the First Congregational Church 

" . . . In the summer of 1707, an eagle, poised on ex- 
tended pinions over the Housatonic Valley, would have looked 
down upon a scene of singular beauty. He would have beheld 
a wilderness ; but has not a wilderness a beauty unsurpassed 
by the artificial works of man? Mountain, hill and valley were 
clothed with magnificent forests of oak, chestnut and ash. 
The river, then a clear mountain stream, weaving its way among 
the hills, added to the sylvan beauty of the scene. There was 
no sign of the presence, or even existence of man, save possibly 
the thin smoke from the camp-fire of some peaceful Indian, 
who loved these hills, the home of his fathers. 

" Into this trackless wilderness, from the then far-away north- 
land of Massachusetts, came John Noble and his little eight- 
year-old daughter. Do we, who know this lovely valley so 
well, wonder that he built his simple home here, and that his 
descendants have remained here ever since .^ His house was 
for some time the last house this side of Albany. 

" After a short time, a company from Milford, on Long 
Island Sound, took up much of the land here, and naturally 
gave the name New Milford to the new settlement. These men 
were of a sturdy race, strong in body, courageous, believers 
in God and His righteousness. Just think of the task that 
confronted them ! The great forests, which would be a better 
possession than a gold mine now, were an encumbrance then. 
The traditions of these fathers tell us nothing of enervating 
club life, or midday siestas ; the daily rule of life for man 

176 




8()ME NEW MILFOHD CHURCHES 

Methodist Episcopal Methodist, Gaylordsville 

Ba))tist, Xortiiville Saint Francis Xavier 



The Sunday Exeecises 177 

and woman then was work, work, work, that we might enter 
into the goodly heritage we now enjoy. Among the early set- 
tlers was Mr. John Read, who built a primitive house at the 
upper end of " The Green," near Mr. Frederic Knapp's 
house. Mr. Read, at one time, intended to enter the ministry. 
He preached the first sermon here in his own house. The 
founders of our State and town believed in God, and delighted 
in his worship. They were assured that God could manifest 
himself in the wild woods, or in some log cabin as well as in 
a stately cathedral. And so, before their families were fairly 
settled, they provided some place for the stated worship of 
Almighty God. 

" So, here, after Mr. Read left the town, the people con- 
tinued to use his simple home as their place of worship. I 
quote from our church manual : ' These people held their re- 
ligious services in what was called Mr. Read's house, wliich has 
been described as probably built of logs, one story high, and 
had but one window, and was not very commodious nor an 
ornamental place of worship. The first vote to build a regular 
meeting-house was passed in 1716, and, then, so many difficul- 
ties were encountered, and so limited were the resources of the 
people, that the building does not seem to have been completely 
finished and furnished till 1731 — ^though it was probably occu- 
pied for worship in its unfinished condition as early as 1720. 
This building stood on Town Hill, on the upper side of the 
present " Green." In 1754 a new and more commodious 
meeting-house was erected upon the village " Green," nearly 
opposite the present residence of Mrs. Henry E. Bostwick. 
This building was used as a house of worship for seventy-nine 
years, during the pastorates of Revs. Taylor, Griswold and 
Elliot. During the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Rood in 1833, 
the present edifice was erected. In 1860, it was completely 
renovated.' 

" In 1892 it was again renovated and a considerable addition 
made to this audience room, and the chapel, parlor and class 
rooms were added to the main building. In 1902 the present 
parsonage was built, and the ample grounds about it were 



178 The Bi-Centennial, Exercises 

laid out. In 1904 the organ was presented by one of our 
members. 

" They were a godly people who settled in this valley ; a peo- 
ple who believed in the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship, 
and we may be sure that some kind of religious service was 
held here from the beginning of the settlement, but a regular 
church was not organized until 1716. Eight female and five 
male members were formally recognized as a church by council 
on November 21 of that year. It was a Congregational Church 
of the ' Standing Order,' and all the early inhabitants seem 
to have been in sympathy with it. It has continued an unbroken 
organization to this day. It has always been influential in the 
moral and religious movements of the community ; and we are 
proud of its history, and are glad that we are members of it 
in this later day. 

" We are so firmly convinced of the wisdom of the separation 
of Church and State, that is it hard for us to appreciate that 
our own church, through much of its history, was rigidly united 
with the State. For thirty-four years after the organization 
of the church, the Ecclesiastical Society and the town were 
practically the same thing. The larger part of the business 
of town meetings was the consideration of religious affairs. 
The town called the minister, provided for the expenses of the 
church, cared for the building ; in fact did about everything 
that the church and society would do now. It was a town 
meeting that voted the size of the shingles and clapboards to 
be placed on the church building. Some of you, not very 
old, can remember when the town voted in the basement of this 
building. If there is any virtue in a union of Church and 
State, this church must have received the full measure. Until 
1819 this Society had the legal right to tax all the inhabitants 
for its own support; but naturally, other denominations, 
which had arisen within the town, would object to this, and, as 
a matter of fact, this right was not insisted upon. The only 
relic of this incongruous relation of Church and State, accord- 
ing to American standards, is the Ecclesiastical Society ; and, in 
the formation of new churches, this is generally done away 



The Sunday Exercises 179 

with, the church feehng abundantly able to take care of its 
own affairs. 

" During the one hundred and ninety-one years of its his- 
tory this church has been served by ten settled pastors, and 
by several ministers who acted as pastors for limited periods. 
All of these ministers were men of power and influence, and 
have left their mark upon both church and town. From the 
organization of the church in 1716 to the end of the eighteenth 
century the church was served by only two pastors — the Rev. 
Daniel Boardman, and the Rev. Nathaniel Taylor. They were 
strong men and did much for the religious development of 
western Connecticut. Their descendants are still influential 
residents of our town. The third pastor was the Rev. Stanley 
Griswold, a man of strong personality and pronounced ability. 
After leaving New Milford he retired from the ministry, and, 
entering upon political life, became Secretary of Michigan 
Territory, and afterwards one of the first United States Sen- 
ators from the State of INIichigan. Later, he was Chief Jus- 
tice of the Northwest Territory. The Revs. Andrew Elliot 
and Herman Rood were strong men, leaving the impress of 
their labors upon the life of the church. The sixth pastor 
was the Rev. Noah Porter. He was a faithful worker here, 
and his work was greatly blessed. He afterwards became 
known to all the world of scholars as the distinguished Presi- 
dent, for many years, of Yale College. The Rev. John 
Greenwood was a pastor greatly beloved. After a period of 
absence from the town, he returned to spend his latter days 
with the church he loved. The eighth pastor was the Rev. 
David Murdock, Jr. He was a forcible preacher, and many 
of the present membership were received into the church dur- 
ing his fruitful ministry. He was pastor during the exciting 
days of the Civil War, and his stirring, patriotic addresses 
never left any doubt of the position of this church in the days 
which tried men's souls. The last three ministers, the Revs. 
James B. Bonar, George S. Thrall, and Timothy J. Lee, were 
the friends and pastors of a large part of the present congre- 
gation. Many of the older members were welcomed into the 



180 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

fellowship of the church during their ministries. Not only here, 
but in other fields of labor, they gave good proof of their 
ministry. Of all this list of former ministers, only one is living 
to-day, the Rev. Timothy J. Lee, the immediate predecessor 
of the present pastor. 

" These ministers were advised and assisted by a consecrated 
band of deacons ; men chosen for their piety and interest in 
the affairs of the church. The New England Congregational 
deacon has always filled a large place in the moral development 
of a community ; and so these men have done their part in pro- 
moting the better life of this town. It would be impossible 
to write a true history of the town without giving their names 
a prominent place. The name of one of their number, also 
sometime clerk of our Society, is written high in the annals 
of his country, the distinguished patriot and statesman, Roger 
Sherman, associate of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Ben- 
jamin Franklin, and Robert R. Livingston, on the committee 
of five which prepared the immortal Declaration of Independ- 
ence. His colleague, Thomas Jefferson, said of him, he was 
' a man who never said a foolish thing ' ; and the noted Senator 
Macon declared, ' He had more common sense than any man 
I have ever known.' At this anniversary time, we are happy 
to recall the name of such a man as a citizen of our town, 
and a member and officer in our church. . . . 

The following hymn, written for the occasion by Charlotte 
B. Bennett, was sung in the Congregational Church in the 
course of the service at which the above sermon was preached. 

BI-CENTENNIAL HYMN 

" God of our fathers, in whose sight 

The centuries are but as days, 
We ask, as those of old, Thy light ; 

We bring, like them, our gift of praise. 

" We bless Thee for the fathers' love ; 

They made the rough way sm.ooth, that we 
Might safer walk. O, may it prove 

The path of peace that leads to Thee. 



The Sunday Exercises 181 

" We reach across the vanished years 

And touch their holy lives to-day, 
They kept the faith through toils and fears ; 

Grant heahng in the touch, we pray. 

" If mists of time have dimmed our sight, 

And faith has faltered on the way, 
May clearer vision in the light 

Of holy memories, crown this day. 

" Alike to Thee are new and old ; 

Thy care through ages is the same; 
Thy love links with a chain of gold 

The centuries, in one dear Name. 

" Keep in the hollow of Thy hand 

This hallowed place, while years shall last ; 

For righteousness still may it stand, 
Till days and ages are all past." 



BY REV. SAMUEL HART, D. D. 

OF MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT, IN SAINT JOHn's CHURCH, ALL 
saints' CONGREGATION UNITING 

" It happened, as men say, that the beginning of the settle- 
ment of this town fell in the year which saw the organization 
of the first parish of the Church of England in Connecticut ; 
the bi-centenary of New Milford is also the bi-centenary of 
the Diocese of Connecticut. It is but natural, therefore, that 
one who is called to speak to-day as to that part which this 
parish has borne in the history of the toAvn, should recur to 
the origin of the Church in this Colony, and should have in 
his mind the inspiration of last week's commemoration in Strat- 
ford ; we cannot but look back from the time when the Church's 
ministrations were first held here, to the earlier ministrations 
on the shores of the Sound. But we have a stronger reason 
to-day for turning to the beginnings ; for the two clergymen 



182 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

who first officiated here, at the request of a few adherents of 
the Church of England, were Dr. Johnson, missionary and 
rector at Stratford, ' the father of the Church in Connecticut,' 
and Mr. John Beach, of Stratford birth, Dr. Johnson's pupil 
in theology, in charge of congregations in Redding and New- 
town. But, as it appears, we can go still further back; for 
one of the first settlers here, of whom indeed it is said that he 
claimed the land by title from the Indians, was John Read, 
who, at the time when the church services were first held by 
a clergyman in Stratford, was ministering to the Congrega- 
tional society there, and presently connected himself with the 
newly formed congregation of Churchmen ; indeed, we are told 
that at one time he had it in mind to go to England and ask 
for ordination at the hands of a bishop. Whatever his plans 
in this matter, they were not carried out ; for he removed to 
this place, granted the use of a house which he built as a 
place of meeting for public worship, and occasionally preached 
to those who assembled there. He became a lawyer and Queen's 
attorney, and removed to Boston, where he was a communicant 
in King's Chapel. His son John was one of the first settlers 
of Reading (Redding) and named the town for his father. 
Thus there was here, from the very first, a little Church of 
England leaven. 

" But we are told of no formal church services here for 
twenty-two years, and of no separate congregation until 1743. 
At this time. Dr. Johnson, that man of great learning and 
prudence and missionary zeal, had been ministering for twenty 
years in Stratford, extending his journeys to places adjacent 
and remote in the Colony, and exercising a strong and healthful 
influence on behalf of the Church. Among the young men 
whom he trained in the Church's ways and in her theology, 
his pupils and members of his family, was John Beach, for 
eight years Congregational minister at Newtown, ' a popular 
and insinuating young man,' as was testified of him, who after 
ordination in England came back to his former field of labor 
and began a wonderful work there and in Redding, with a small 
congregation of five families. These two men came hither at 



The Sunday Exercises 183 

the request of a few Church people, of whom Mr. Beach wrote 
in 1743 there were about twenty families in New Milford and 
New Fairfield, who frequently attended church at Newtown, 
and to whom he ministered at their homes as he was able, but 
rarely on the Lord's Day. The to^vn, presently, on the peti- 
tion of twelve men, granted them a piece of land in the street 
at its south end, ' near where the old pound used to stand,' 
forty feet by sixty, ' in order to build a Church of Etigland 
upon ; ' and the building seems to have been erected in 1744. . . 
" Under Mr. Beach's care many in this part of the colony — 
for he had a wide circuit for visitations and services — accepted 
the Church's ways ; and thus was the Church established in 
the faith and increasing in number, as in the primitive times. 
When at last he asked to be relieved from the care of the con- 
gregations and scattered communicants in Litchfield County, 
the Rev. Solomon Palmer took charge of the Churchmen in 
this neighborhood, and became the first clergyman resident here. 
After five years he removed to Litchfield ; and to him succeeded, 
in 1762, as by a kind of exchange, the Rev. Thomas Davies, 
whose grandfather and father, faithful laymen, had founded 
the parishes in Litchfield and Washington. His whole span of 
life was but thirty years, and he ministered here but four years ; 
but he left a record for untiring labor, constant pastoral labor, 
persuasive eloquence, and godly living, which has not been 
effaced by time, and the results of which, we cannot but believe, 
still remain in this community. Even when there was talk of 
a division of his work, he proposed to retain the toA\Tis of 
New Milford, Woodbury, Kent, and New Fairfield as his mis- 
sion, leaving Litchfield, Cornwall and Sharon, with a few 
Churchmen in nine other towns, to the care of another clergyman. 
During his ministry, a second house of worship was built, the 
old church being too small for the congregation ; it stood in part 
on the street, some twenty or thirty rods north of the former 
site. After Mr. Davies, followed the Rev. Richard (or Richard 
Samuel) Clarke, the twenty years of whose ministry included 
the cloudy days that preceded the Revolution and the stormy 
times of the Revolution itself. He was a Tory in political 



184 The Bi-Centennial Exercises. 

convictions and, after the war, removed to Nova Scotia, where 
he died in 1824 at the age of 87, the oldest missionary in the 
Colonies. 

" It would be ungracious to dwell now on the opposition, for 
the most part conscientious, and nearly always quite in ac- 
cordance with law, which the early Churchmen experienced. 
It is pleasanter to note that their neighbors and the Colonial 
authorities extended to them what was for the times, a generous 
toleration as to ' sober dissenters,' and allowed them, if they 
actually attended church, to turn their * church rates ' to the 
support of their own clergymen. And this parish had the 
special favor, shared with but two others, of a special act of 
the General Assembly, which practically put it before the law 
in the full status of a society of the standing Congregational 
order. Even the hard feelings of Revolutionary days, almost 
excusable at the time, soon passed away. The Church of 
England in Connecticut, under the nominal care of the Bishop 
of London, became the Church of the Diocese of Connecticut, 
under the care of her own Bishop, and presently a constitu- 
ent part of the Church in the United States, loyally main- 
taining the Commonwealth and the Republic, actually guiding 
the organization of the State, and moulding a large part of 
the people in the ways of soberness, righteousness, and godliness. 

" In all this time, the parish of St. John's, New Milford, 
was a true center of missionary work. We wonder when wc 
read of Dr. Johnson from Stratford extending his journeys 
to Newtown and Middletown and New London ; of Mr. Beach 
from Newtown visiting New Milford and other places, really 
caring for a whole county with 'parts adjacent'; of Mr, 
Davies from New Milford going about in circuit, preaching 
and baptizing in Roxbury, and New Preston, and Salisbury, 
and Litchfield, and Sharon, and divers other places in the Col- 
ony, and crossing the line into Great Barrington, where he 
found difficulties incident to another government, but where a 
church was built under his care ; and how he, in his turn, directed 
to that place the steps of Gideon Bostwick, who ministered for 
more than twenty years in Berkshire, in the southern part of 



The Sunday Exercises 185 

Vermont, and in the eastern part of New York. Moreover, 
there came in 1769, to the clergy of Connecticut, assembled in 
Convocation in New Milford, a memorial from the few Church- 
men in the new settlement of Claremont, in New Hampshire, 
asking that their case might be presented to the Venerable 
Society in England, with the hope that they would be allowed 
at least a catechist and schoolteacher, until (as they said) 
they should have passed ' the first difficulties and hardships 
of a wild, uncultivated country.' Such a man was commissioned, 
and did good work as an unordained missionary; while a cler- 
gyman was presently sent to make a personal exploration of 
the northern provinces. It is apart from our immediate topic ; 
but we can never think of the religious history of New Milford 
without being reminded of that remarkable man. Count Zin- 
zendorf, who held the episcopate among the Moravians, and 
for a while ministered to the aborigines in this very place — one 
of the few places in which the Indians remained, and in which 
they were affected by the preaching of Christianity. There were 
others also here whose very presence was a challenge to the 
teaching of the Church at one time or another — Separatists, and 
Quakers, and Jemimaites, and Glassites. Among them all, the 
Church held her place, and guided the life of no small part 
of the whole community. 

" For the last ten years of the eighteenth century the Rev. 
Truman Marsh was rector of New Milford, with New Preston 
and Roxbury. In 1793 the Church, already occupied for eight 
and twenty years, was formally consecrated by Bishop Sea- 
bury, eight of the clergy being present for a Convocation. 
It had been long in an unfinished state, as we gather from 
the frequent entries in the parish records, which refer to the 
work yet to be done. Only two years before the consecration 
it was voted, ' To go on and finish the Pulpit, Reading Desk, 
Clark's pew, and Gallery ' ; and in the next year a vote was 
passed as to the assignment of seats ; and, the front seat in 
the gallery being resei-ved for singers, and the back seat there 
for blacks, it was commendably voted, ' That People of any De- 
nomination that Wish a Seat Shall have one.' This edifice, re- 



186 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

paired from time to time, served the purposes of the congre- 
gation until 1837 ; and the third Church was in turn replaced 
by the present beautiful and enduring building, on a new but 
adjacent site, twenty-four years ago, in 1883. There must 
have been of old a glebe lot here, though we do not find early 
notice of it; it lay on the west side of the Main Street, and, in 
Mr. Marsh's day, it had a house and barn upon it; there is a 
tradition that it was secured in part from the sale of a piece of 
land which the parish owned at a still earlier day and in part 
from the parish's share of the avails from undivided land in 
the highway ; at any rate, it was sold long ago. 

" The history of post-Revolutionary times must be rapidly 
passed over. Mr. Benjamin Benham began here as a lay- 
reader, and, having been ordained in 1808, was rector for 
nearly twenty years, having duties also at New Preston, Rox- 
bury, Bridgewater, and Brookfield; then, for another score of 
years the Rev. Enoch Huntington ministered to the congrega- 
tion, and, after an interval, another twenty years of your rec- 
ords is covered by the rectorship of the Rev. Charles G. Acly, 
in whose time a rectory was secured. 

" This brings us down to a date but little more than thirty 
years ago, well within the memory of many in this congrega- 
tion; and the last twelve of these years belong to the present 
rectorship, as to which we may well hope, both for the rector's 
sake and for the people's, that it is much nearer its beginning 
than its end. 

" A few figures will show the remarkable growth of the par- 
ish, noticeable even among the thriving country parishes of 
Connecticut. A hundred years ago, already a century after the 
first settlement, there were seventy-four communicants in the 
cure of New Milford, New Preston, and Roxbury; fifty years 
ago, St. John's Church, New Milford, reported one hundred 
and twenty-five communicants and one hundred Sunday schol- 
ars ; in 1885, not quite thirty years later, the number of com- 
municants had increased to two hundred and eighty-nine, and 
the number of Sunday scholars was one hundred sixty-four. In 
the last named year, the new congregation of All Saints' Me- 



The Sunday Exercises 187 

morial Church was canonically organized, its beautiful place 
of worship being consecrated in a subsequent year, and a rec- 
tory being added some twelve years ago. The result of this 
increase of the provision for the worship of the Church and for 
its varied ministrations in this town has been a growth, under 
all the circumstances, more remarkable than that of former 
times ; in twenty-one years the number of communicants has 
increased from two hundred eighty-nine to five hundred forty- 
nine — four hundred five in the older parish and one hundred 
forty-four in the younger ; and where there were one hundred 
sixty-four scholars in one Sunday school, there are now two 
hundred fifty-eight in two schools, of which the mother parish 
has two hundred nine. . . ." 

BY REV. S. D. WOODS 

IN THE BAPTIST CHURCH AT NORTHVILI.E 

" Our best authority tells us that while Baptists were not 
very numerous in the early days of the town's history, yet a 
decade or more before the close of its first century there was 
a sufficient number to warrant the carrying on of services at 
varying places — Bridgewater, Warren, and Gaylord's Bridge. 
These were kept up for twenty-five years, when, on Jan. 7, 
1814, a meeting was held at the residence of Asahel Baldwin, at 
which time it was voted: '1st, To organize ourselves into 
a society to be known as the " New Milf ord Baptist Church." 
2d, To invite a council from sister churches to meet with us 
on Feb. 9, to consider the propriety of recognizing us as a 
regular Baptist Church.' This council met as planned, and 
after a proper examination of ' their Articles of Faith and 
their Covenant,' voted, unanimously, ' to recognize them as a 
sister church in the Lord.' 

" By this act twenty-two believers became a recognized body 
of worshipers, who, ten days later, voted to license Eleazer 
Beecher as pastor. He was ordained Sept. 15, 1814, at the 
residence of Abel Canfield on Long Mountain. The services 
were conducted in the open air. 



188 The Bi-Centennial Exeecises 

" This first pastorate continued for seven years, when Rev. 
Seth Higby assumed charge for one momentous year, as it wit- 
nessed the beginning of this present house of worship ; and the 
following year, 1822, saw its completion, when Elder Higby 
resigned, and Elder Beecher was again installed, serving the 
church for ten years more. He was succeeded by Rev. Nathan 
Benedict in a two years' pastorate, and he, in turn, by Rev. 
Elijah Baldwin, who remained until 1840. For ten years the 
church was without a settled pastor, though the pulpit was sup- 
pUed by various non-resident clergymen. 

" From 1850 to 1866 but httle growth is recorded ; they 
were years of stiniggles and trials. There was a succession 
of pastors. Revs. H. M. Barlow, J. F. Jones, and J. Hepburn, 
serving as under shepherds. 

" In 1868 the Rev. C. W. Potter was called, and his three 
years of service witnessed a gracious revival and added ten to 
the church roll. With the resignation of Elder Potter, the 
church experienced five years of pastorless existence, though 
being supplied occasionally by Rev. Arthur Day. With the 
settlement of Rev. Edwin Beardsley, in 1875, the church en- 
tered upon a new era of growth and activity. The records 
show that two are still members who came in during that time. 
The succeeding pastor was Rev. J. P. Cotney, who remained 
about three years, adding two by baptism. He was succeeded 
by Rev. F. P. Braman, in 1887, who remained two years, bap- 
tizing six into fellowship. In 1889 the Rev. Frederick Kratz 
was installed, to be succeeded within two years by Rev. John 
Scott, during whose ministry of two years the parsonage was 
well-nigh completed and three members added to the church 
roll. This pastorate also saw the church made a corporate 
body. In 1893 Rev. F. D. Luddington was called, and re- 
mained three years, baptizing twenty-eight into church fel- 
lowship. In July, 1896, Rev. Charles I. Ramsey assumed the 
pastorate, and for nearly five years continued the good work 
already begun, by adding ten by baptism. The Rev. A. H. 
Manee began his pastoral labors in August, 1901, closing his 
labors in October, 1904, baptizing one into fellowship. 



The Sunday Exercises 189 

" From November, 1904, until April, 1905, the pulpit was 
supplied by various clergymen, when Rev. S. D. Woods became 
pastor, and continues in that office at the present time. Thus 
far there have been nineteen baptisms, and the church shows 
the largest membership in its history. 

" All told, there have been two hundred and sixty-nine bap- 
tisms. The present membership is seventy. . . . 

BY REV. HARRIS K. SMITH 

IN THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

"Text — Proverbs ^'2:28. ''Remove not the ancient land- 
mark, which thy fathers have set.' 

" A burning desire to deliver a living message is one land- 
mark in the evangelism of the fathers of our church. The 
age of our town is nearly four times as great as the years of 
Methodism's church edifice in our village ; more than twice 
the years of Methodism in the present confines of our town ; 
one hundred twenty-seven years greater than Methodism in 
the State ; thirty-seven years greater than Methodism's first 
Conference. Indeed, John Wesley, its founder, was but four 
years old, in June of the year, when John Noble, New Mil- 
ford's first settler, penetrated these forests primeval. Our 
fathers came not as a colony, but as evangelists, impelled by 
a vital experience. They believed that sin separated from 
God, that only by salvation, through the atonement of the 
Redeemer, could sinners be in harmony with the Father, that 
personal righteousness and the witness of God's indwelling 
Spirit were results of redemption, and that the redeemed were 
to go on unto the likeness of Jesus. Without ignoring other 
elements in their belief, the stress laid upon personal experience 
and its intensity led them far and wide. That they did not 
thrust an alien graft upon New England religious stock is 
seen in one instance, at least, by the demands of Jonathan 
Edwards for personal righteousness, and for conversion as a re- 
quirement for all seeking the communion of the Lord's Supper; 



190 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

and the sad rejection from his pulpit. Infidelity, imported 
with the teaching of the French revolutionists, was alarmingly 
on the increase. The custom of discussing metaphysical sub- 
jects and of weaving fine-spun doctrines was spreading more 
or less throughout Christendom; to so large an extent had 
London been infected, that Blackstone, the famous law com- 
mentator, in visiting every church of note in that city, said 
he did not hear one sermon that had more of Christianity 
than had the writings of Cicero, and that they could not have 
been called Christian sermons. The revival-stirring sermons 
of Wesley and Whitefield were permeating through and up- 
ward from the masses of the people. And the reception given 
to this message, so ardently delivered, assures conclusively 
the need that had been unsatisfied. So, then, the fathers of 
our Church entered this field with the ringing word of God 
in their hearts as their warrant. 

" Faithful sowing and careful husbanding of the harvest 
constituted another landmark. When, in 1789, Jesse Lee was 
appointed to Stamford, he had neither preaching place nor 
congregation as a rallying point ; not even a member in all New 
England to greet him. He entered with a ' roving commission.' 
True enough, Methodism had been presented by some of the 
most prominent evangelical preachers since the visit of Charles 
Wesley, nearly sixty years prior to Lee, and including White- 
field, Boardman, and Garretson, within a short time of the 
more concentrated mission in 1789. Lee's fine appearance, 
his massive frame, his weight being about three hundred 
pounds, his wit and good humor, his wisdom and judgment 
of human nature, his knowledge of the Bible, and his depth of 
consecration gave him an entry. The labors of Lee extended, 
during his first year, from Norwalk along the Sound coast, and 
upward to Ridgefield and Danbury. These pioneers ap- 
proached our town from the south, reaching the part now 
separated into the town of Bridgewater, about 1800; they 
came from the Hudson River in the north to Gaylordsville 
in 1813, and to Northville in 1816; from the southwest to 
Lanesville, then called Pleasant Valley, in 1815. These ac- 



The Sunday Exercises 191 

tivities from all directions soon resulted in the erection of 
church buildings at all of these points. The care of the 
preachers was constant to train the converts enlisted. They 
visited and revisited, at heavy privations and difficulties, to 
make sure of the standing of even one or two new members. 

" The essential coworking of the laymen is another land- 
mark. Methodism, from its inception, would have been in- 
complete without the largest degree of co-operation on the 
part of the laity. It has been a layman's movement, under 
the direction of ordained leaders. As soon as two or more 
were converted at a place, one of the number was delegated 
as leader for the others, thus forming classes for religious 
culture. Awaiting the visits of the preacher in charge, these 
classes were hives of industry, and seminaries of learning, and 
communions for worship in charge of one of their own num- 
ber, the class leader. Those more qualified by nature and 
grace were called for special activity as local preachers, and 
they went from place to place, preaching to other congrega- 
tions, alternating with the ordained preachers and under their 
direction. These meetings were in homes, at times the choicest 
in the center of the town, or at others, far in the fastness of 
the forest within the rude log cabin, or at others, in God's 
open temple with the swaying branches of the trees as their 
rafters. The time of worship might be at any hour from 
sunrise until midnight, and on any day during the week. The 
congregation was called from the home, the shop, the store, 
and the field, not by the chime of the church bell, but by the 
volume of hearty singing ; the numbers might be confined 
to one beside the preacher, or mount upwards to more than 
twenty thousand. The immediate results of these preach- 
ing visits were to be cultivated by the resident laymen. And 
nobly did they keep the faith. Exhortation, rebuke, counsel, 
encouragement, forbearance, and brotherly love must come by 
means of fellow laymen, in many cases but little older in the 
faith than the new recruits, 

" Zeal in building up the local church was another land- 
mark. Within a few years after the introduction of Meth- 



19^ The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

odisni, church buildings were erected at Gaylordsville, at a 
cost of eight hundred dollars ; at Northville, on ground of 
Harvey Benson, at a cost of six hundred dollars, beside labor 
and material contributed ; and at Lanesville, at a cost of 
three thousand dollars. This indicates considerable sacrifice 
on the part of the members, and interest in the community. 
In 1849, after considerable discussion, the members of the 
different churches, so close in location, agreed upon the vil- 
lage as a central point, and our present edifice was built. Since 
1833, when its name had first appeared in the conference 
minutes, it has been known as the New Milford charge. Be- 
fore that it had been part of the Stratford circuit, which, in 
1822, when our town first had a permanent preaching place on 
the circuit, had only three church edifices ; while to-day this 
range contains church property, including parsonages, worth 
nearly a million dollars, has several thousand members, and gives 
for benevolent purposes, outside its own borders, more money 
every year by far than the total amount contributed for all 
causes at that time. 

" Within a few years of the building of the present edifice 
a parsonage was erected. Every year additional money was 
laid out on the property ; principally in 1869 in the pastorate 
of the Rev. W. R. Webster, and in 1891, when the church 
was remodeled and enlarged, at a cost of several thousand 
dollars, in the pastorate of the Rev. R. T. Cooper. ... In 
the long line of preachers, whose counsel and administration 
have cheered and molded many lives, was the Rev. William T. 
Gilbert, one of a great class graduated from Yale University, 
who, with earnest manner and finely wrought sermon, built 
deeply and broad ; and, after laying aside his pastoral duties, he 
re-entered the ranks, working faithfully along different ways in 
the activities of the laymen. The Rev. George Lansing Taylor, 
D. D., L. H. D., ended a life of great intellectual power and 
moral grandeur, while your pastor. For breadth in learning, 
strength of thought, independence for truth, tenacity to pur- 
pose, and conscientious following after his Master, he was 
notable. His pastorate will long be memorable in the history 



The Sunday Exercises 193 

of this church, and be felt in the Hves of its members, among 
the younger especially, as they were marked by his striking 
personality." 

BY REV. ORVILLE VAN KEUREN 

IN THE GAYLORDSVILLE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

" Methodism was established in Gaylordsville in 1825, under 
the following circumstances : 

" Rev. Cyrus Silliman, of the New York Conference, came 
to visit a cousin, Mrs. David Sterling, who lived one and a 
half miles below the village, in the town of Sherman. While 
there, he made an appointment for a week-evening service at 
the Strait district schoolhouse. The attendance was so large 
and the interest so marked that he continued the meetings 
four evenings, and then returned to his charge in the State 
of New York. 

" The people, however, continued the meetings for several 
weeks, holding them in private houses. Rev. Andrew Elliot, 
the pastor of the Congregational Church at New Milford, 
learning of the revival, came up several times and visited the 
families. 

" The following year, as a result of these meetings, twenty- 
six persons joined the Congregational Church, nineteen formed 
a Methodist class at Gaylordsville, and others joined the Bap- 
tist Church. A subscription was started to build a union 
church at Gaylordsville, which was built in 1826. Rev. Aaron 
Hunt, a Methodist preacher from the State of New York, 
preached the first sermon in the new church, which was used 
jointly by the Methodists, Congregationalists, and Baptists 
up to about 1854. This church stood on the east side of 
the river, just back of the store now occupied by A. H. Bar- 
low. It was afterward sold to Peter Gaylord, who removed 
it to his premises and converted it into a barn. At a quarterly 
meeting, held in that church, Rev. Edmund Storer Janes, 
D. D., LL. D., afterward a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, received his license as a local preacher. 



194* The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

" In 1854, under the pastorate of Rev. David Nash, the 
present church edifice was erected, upon a site given by the 
Rev. John Henry Gaylord, who also raised by subscription 
about $2800 toward the cost of the new church. The par- 
sonage, which adjoins the church, was purchased in 1884, dur- 
ing the pastorate of Rev. M. M. Curtis. 

" In 1827 Rev. Josiah L. Dickerson settled here, built a 
house, and engaged in making brick. As a local preacher, he 
filled some of the appointments on the circuit up to about 
1834, when he joined the New York Conference, and continued 
in the regular work of the ministry until retired by reason of 
age. He died in 1862, and is buried in the Gaylordsville 
cemetery. 

" Methodism was introduced into Sherman Center, under 
the pastorate of Rev. Alonzo Sclleck, in 1838, under the fol- 
lowing circumstances : 

" A few years before the Congregational Church of Sher- 
man became divided over the building of a new house of wor- 
ship, or, rather, the location of the building. A majority 
of the society decided it should be built about a mile north 
of the Center, where the present church stands. A minority, 
living at the Center and in the southern part of the town, 
built a church at the Center, and called it a union church. 
Rev. Selleck was preacher in charge of New Milford circuit, 
which, at that time, included the following appointments: 
Pleasant Plains, Iron Works, Newtown, Merryall, Hawley- 
ville, Northville, Kent Mountain, Gaylordsville, Bull's Bridge, 
and Long Mountain. There were but three churches on the 
circuit. The other preaching places were schoolhouses or 
private dwellings. 

" Following a revival service held at the Leach Hollow 
schoolhouse in the fall of 1837, the Center people invited Rev. 
Selleck to come up and preach in the new church, which was 
not entirely furnished at that time. The first service was held 
on New Year's Eve, as a watch night service. The church 
was filled to overflowing, and, at that service, seventy-five per- 
sons came forward as seekers of religion. The meetings were 



The Sunday Exercises 195 

continued several weeks, Rev, H. Ames, a retired preacher 
residing in the town, assisting much in the work. About two 
hundred fifty persons professed rehgion during this revival. 
Of that number, seventy joined the Methodist Church, while 
many joined the Congregational Church, of which Rev. Mr. 
Gilson was then pastor. 

" A few years later Sherman was made the center of a 
circuit, separate from New Milford, taking in the appoint- 
ments in the northern part of the town. From 1826 to 1848 
this circuit was connected with the New York Confer- 
ence. At the session of the General Conference in 1872 it 
was again transferred to the New York Conference, where 
it still remains. When the transfer was made in 1872, the 
records for the charge showed a membership of seventy-three, 
the Sherman Society having at that time but thirteen 
members. 

" The church has had a long list of pastors, who served 
in the following order: Revs. John Reynolds, William Jewett, 
Fitch Reed, Samuel Cochran, Seth W. Scofield, A. S. Hill, 
Francis Donelly, the exact dates of whose pastorates we can- 
not give; 1837, Alonzo Selleck and Asahel Brownson ; 1838, 
Alonzo Selleck and Samuel Weeks; 18-i4-5, Gad S. Gilbert; 
1846-7, Ehas Gilbert; 1848-9, Justus O. Worth; 1850, 
Thomas B. Treadwell; 1851, William Wake; 1852, Alexander 
McAllester; 1853, Gilbert Hubbell; 1854-5, David Nash; 
1856-7, Wilham H. Stebbins ; 1858-9, Thomas D. Littlewood ; 
1860-2, John H. Gaylord; 1863, Wilham Ross; 1864, John 
Henry Gaylord (during his pastorate the church sheds were 
built); 1865-6, Benjamin A. Gilman ; 1867-8, F. W. Lock- 
wood; 1869-70, Sherman D. Barnes; 1871, Frank F. Jor- 
dan; 1872-3, B. M. Genung; 1874-5, Uriah Symonds ; 1876, 
W. A. Dalton; 1877-9, R. F. Elsden ; 1880-1, Robert Kay; 
1882-4, M. M. Curtis (during his pastorate twenty-six joined 
the church, two of whom entered the ministry — Rev. Henry 
Hoag, a member of the Conference, and Mark B. Howland, 
a local preacher) ; 1885, Gustave Lass ; 1886-7, E. H. Powell; 
1888-92, W. H. Peters (under whose pastorate the church 



196 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

was thoroughly repaired and refurnished) ; 1893-4, I. H. 
Keep; 1895-7, John Henry Lane ; 1899, C. B. Conro ; 1900-1, 
E. H. Roys; 1902, Robert F. Elsden ; 1903-6, Edmund T. 
Byles; 1907, O. Van Keuren, the present pastor. 

" In 1898 the charge was left to be supplied. The Rev. 
M. M. Curtis, then superannuated, filled the pulpit for a few 
weeks. When, by reason of failing health, he was obliged to 
discontinue the work, the Rev. James A. Hurn, who has since 
united with the Conference, supplied for the rest of the year. 

" During the pastorate of E. T. Byles the church property 
was greatly improved by the addition of well-appointed church 
parlors, equipped with all modern conveniences, the entire ex- 
pense being provided for before the work was begun. 

" The membership, though small, is thoroughly united and 
intensely loyal. 

" Others have labored, and we have entered into their labors, 
while they, in continuous procession, have passed on to receive 
the reward of the faithful. 

" The present membership of the church is eighty-eight." 



BY REV. ELISHA J. ELLIS, OF DANBURY 

IN THE ADVENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

" Early in the history of the movement which resulted in 
the formation of the Advent Christian denomination, the seed 
of the doctrines which distinguished this people were sown 
here by pioneer hands. So far as ascertained, the first preach- 
ers to arrive on the field were Elders Ira Morgan and Samuel 
G. Mathewson, about 1844. Quite a number of conversions 
followed, and Elder Mathewson baptized quite a number in 
the stream which flows near the present church site. Rufus 
Way, Horace Gregory, and Richard Heacock were converts 
about this time — also A. S. Calkins, who afterwards became 
a talented preacher in the West. 

" Joshua V. Hines preached here in 1846 or 1847. After- 
wards, in the sixties and seventies, representative men like 



The Sunday Exercises 197 

Miles Grant, Horace L. Hastings, I. B. Potter, Peter and 
Samuel Patro labored here; also H. K. and A. D. Flagg. 

" Under the labors of Rev. A. D. Flagg, in 1870, the pastor 
of this church, at the age of eighteen, found Christ in personal 
salvation, and, with his grandfather, was immersed in Still 
River near Lanesville. Over thirty-five years ago, Stephen 
Heacock first commenced to publicly work for the Master, and 
for years conducted a mission in the Town Hall building. 

" Between eleven and twelve years ago the speaker had 
the pleasure of introducing him to the Advent Christian 
Connecticut Conference, and on November 11th, 1897, in the 
Town Hall, Stephen Heacock was publicly ordained to the 
gospel ministry, by the speaker and his associates of the 
Ministerial Board of the Conference. While others have la- 
bored hard toward the spread of the Adventual faith in this 
section, I think, all present — yea, the entire community — will 
agree that largely to the self-sacrificing, heroic efforts of 
this man, and his wife, the success of our cause is due in this 
section. . . . 

" Not fulsome eulogy, but well-deserved words of praise, 
have I spoken here, because, from personal observation and 
connection, I have closely followed, and have been somewhat 
conversant with its history. On February 20, 1900, while 
President of the State Conference, I was summoned here to 
set this church apart in gospel order. On March 6. 1900 
(in the hall on Bank Street), the church organization was 
duly incorporated, and, on August 6, 1901, we were present, 
with other clergymen, at the laying of the cornerstone. On 
November 14, 1901, the church was formally dedicated to the 
worship of God and the work of soul-winning, Rev. Henry 
Stone, of Wallingford, preaching the dedication sermon. . . . 

" It will, doubtless, be interesting to present a few statistics 
furnished us by the pastor in charge: The Advent Christian 
Church of New Milford was organized February 20, 1900, 
with thirty-two charter members. Forty members have been 
received since organization to date. Four deaths and two with- 
drawals leave the present membership sixty-six persons. The 



198 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

pastor, since his ordination, has celebrated nine marriages, 
officiated at thirty-six funerals, and baptized forty-eight per- 
sons. The total number of baptisms in this faith by various 
clergymen in this vicinity would aggregate one hundred fifty. 
Elder Heacock has preached in seventy-five different places 
during his ministry here, and has spoken, by invitation, in 
Baptist, Methodist, Congregational, and in union churches, 
in this vicinity. As a result of this outside work, fifty or 
more conversions have resulted ; and, during the years in which 
he labored in the Gospel temperance work, prior to the estab- 
lishment of the Advent Christian Mission, many people were 
induced to abandon the drink habit, and stand for God and the 
right. Only eternity will rightfully exhibit the definite re- 
sults of this work in and about this village. 

" Before we close the historical part of this discourse, let 
me call your attention to a highly interesting feature of this 
edifice — the church bell. 

" Not only the church people, who worship here, but all the 
citizens of New Milford must be specially interested in the 
bell, which swings in this church tower, and whose presenta- 
tion to this church is designed to perpetuate some facts of 
general interest. . . . Partridge Thatcher, of New Mil- 
ford, was moderator of an assembly of landed proprietors, 
who, with himself, had been granted lands in the wilderness 
of Vermont. These proprietors held their first meeting in 
this town on May 10, 1770, at the home of Colonel Samuel 
Canfield, and Thatcher, acting for these men, made the first 
survey of Waterbury, Vt., in 1782. A lineal descendant of 
Samuel Canfield — in the person of Lawrence Northrop — ^be- 
longs to the present membership of this church. Waterbury, 
Vt., stands on the banks of the Winooski River, and, on a 
branch of that river, named (after the original surveyor) 
' Thatcher's Branch,' stands the Advent Christian Church of 
Waterbury. In this to^vn of Waterbury, lives an Indian gen- 
tleman, Agamenticus, or Joshua Merimam by name. 
The blood of the aboriginal inhabitants — the North American 
Indians — flows in the veins of this beloved pastor and his wife 



The Sunday Exercises 199 

(the former descended from the tribe of the Narragansetts, 
and the wife, from the wariike clan of the Pequots), and also 
in the veins of many of the church members who worship here. 
These facts came in some way to the knowledge of this Mr. 
Merimam, and he, in connection and with the aid of the town 
clerks of Waterbury, Duxbury, Middlesex, and Moretown, 
Vt. (adjacent communities on the banks of the Winooski 
River), and a Mr. Shonio, conceived the idea of presenting 
this church in New Milford a bell, which should not only 
keep green in memory the fact I have already stated, but also 
the memory of a historic and tragic incident of the old French 
and Indian War . . . times, which I will now narrate. 

" Over two hundred years ago, the French Catholics of 
Montreal erected a church for their Indian converts, and 
imported a bell from France, which they hung in this church 
tower. Soon after this, the English Colonists raided Montreal, 
plundered the church, seized the bell, and carried it, with 
many French and Indian prisoners, down the St. Lawrence 
River, thence via the ocean to the mouth of the Connecticut 
River to Deerfield, Mass., where the Indians were sold into 
slavery, and the bell hung in Rev. John Williams' local church. 
At a point of the Winooski Valley, where are now located the 
four towns I have just mentioned, there was a neutral council- 
ground, called the Moheagans, where the Indians of the New 
Milford section, the Indians of Massachusetts, and the North- 
ern tribes met annually to discuss matters of mutual interest. 
At one of these gatherings, the Northern Indians learned the 
fate of their comrades, and laid plans for a rescue. Early 
in 1704 three hundred Indians and a few Frenchmen, under 
the noted French priest, Hextel de Rouville, as leader, made 
a raid on Deerfield — going and coming through Waterbury, 
Vt. Those familiar with early Colonial history will recall what 
followed: the burning of Deerfield, Mass., the massacre of 
many of the whites, the rescue of the old bell and of the 
Indian captives, and the capture of more than a hundred pris- 
oners of war. On the return march, at the junction of the 
Winooski River with Lake Champlain, they hid the bell till 



200 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

a more favorable moment. Returning in May, with one black 
ox, driven by a negro, one white ox, driven by a white man, and 
one red ox, driven by an Indian, the drivers and oxen gar- 
landed with festoons of wild flowers, they carried the bell home 
to Montreal with great rejoicing, where yet it swings, so far 
as we know, in the same old toAver as of yore. In memory 
of this incident, and of the friendship of the New Milford 
Indians, to their Northern brethren in the old Colonial days, 
Agamenticiis of Waterbury, Vt., with his friends, the white 
town fathers of the old Vermont towns surveyed by the New 
Milford Thatcher, gave this bell to the Advent Christian 
church of New Milford, Conn., and christened it ' Sansaman ' 
in honor of the first Indian Christian Missionary of New Eng- 
land, killed by King Philip of the Wampanoags in 1675. . . ." 



BY REV. JOSEPH RYAN 

IN ST. FRANCIS XAVIEr's CHURCH 

" To-day, my dear friends, the celebration of an important 
and certainly noteworthy event is taking place in this town of 
New Milford. With pageantry and music and speech, in 
gayety and festivity, with reunions of old friends and neigh- 
bors, the historic happening is receiving ample recognition and 
celebration. And they do well, the people of New Milford, 
proud of their town and its history, to recognize on such a splen- 
did scale its two hundredth birthday. With all their ceremonies 
of civic and social celebration, the religious side of their town's 
history has been given equal attention. Almighty God has not 
been forgotten — He who is the Creator and Supreme Ruler of 
Ihe Universe, from whom comes all that we are and all that we 
have, who holds in the palm of His hand the destiny of the 
world and the fate of its people. 

" To-day, in her different houses of worship, special religious 
exercises appropriate to the occasion are being held. This 
morning, in particular, sermons are preached of the history of 
her different churches. 



The Sunday Exercises 201 

" I need not tell you the history of your church ; you all 
know it. It is the common history of the Roman Catholic 
Church the world over. It cannot well or easily be separated 
from that magnificent general history stretching back through 
the ages nineteen hundred seven years to that ever memorable 
first Christmas mom when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, taking 
flesh of the Virgin Mary, was born in Bethlehem's stable. And, 
in that wonderful stretch of history, two hundred years are as 
a drop in the bucket, as a sand on the seashore. From the days 
when the Holy Sacrifice of the mass was first offered up in the 
home of Matthew Dunn near the railroad station, or in Wright's 
Hall on Main Street, or in the residence of Edmond Finn, to 
this very day, Roman Catholic history in New Milford has been 
the same as it has been the world over — a history of early trials 
and sufferings and labor, all of which have gradually and surel}' 
melted away before the grand old faith of the ages. The loyal 
Catholics first in New JNIilford, though their future looked dark 
and stormy, clung to the faith richly planted in their noble 
hearts, and put their trust in the words of Him who first estab- 
lished their Church upon this earth, ' Thou art Peter and on 
this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not 
prevail against it.' And they did well to put their trust in Him 
who had also promised, ' Behold I am with you all days even to 
the consummation of tlie world.' In the language of St. Paul, 
those pioneers of the Roman Catholic Church in New Milford 
have fought the good fight, they have saved the faith, and they 
have gone to receive from their Divine Master the crown of 
eternal glory. 

" They knew well tlie truth of their Holy Religion, yes, and 
its value. No mess of pottage, however alluring, be it greater 
position in society, or greater financial considerations, could 
tempt them to part with their Divinely given birthright of 
Catholic faith. They were in Peter's boat and well they knew 
it, and, better still, they showed it by their lives of inigged 
righteousness. 

" The fair name and fame of the Divinely built ship that has 
ridden over the waves and throug-h the storms of nineteen cen- 



202 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

turles was safe in their keeping, for not only did they love their 
religion, but they also lived it. You, their descendants and 
successors, to-day, I would say to you, in the words of your 
Divine Master, ' Go you and do likewise.' " 



THE UNION MEETING 

At three o'clock in the afternoon, a union open-air service 
of all the churches in the town was held upon " The Green." 
Three thousand people, it is estimated, were present, A chorus 
of one hundred voices, conducted by Prof. Cleraence and ac- 
companied by the band, rendered the " Gloria in Excelsis " and 
" The Heavens Are Telling " in a highly effective manner, and 
led the audience in a number of familiar hymns. Rev. F. A. 
Johnson of the First Congregational Church presided. Rev. 
J. F. Plumb of St. John's Church, Rev. S. D. Woods of the 
Baptist Church, and Rev. H. K. Smith of the Methodist Church 
offered prayer, and Rev. Stephen Heacock of the Advent Chris- 
tian Church read the Scripture. The addresses were by Rev. 
Frederick A. Wright, D. D., of New York City, a former New 
Milford boy, and by Rev. Charles J. Ryder, D. D., of New 
York City, Corresponding Secretary of the American Mission- 
ary Association, who, although not himself a native of Ncas- 
Milford, is connected with a family formerly prominent in the 
affairs of the town. 

Dr. Wright said: 

" It is a pleasure to me to address you, both because I count 
it an honor to speak to this audience, and because I feel it a 
privilege to speak on this occasion, and in this place. My 
ancestors, both on my mother's side and on my father's, have 
been identified with this town for six generations, so that I feel 
a sort of intimate kinship with the very fields and mountains ; 
and this soil is in a double sense my ' mother earth.' And, just 
as Antaeus, the child of earth, gained tenfold strength every 
time he stretched his length upon the grass, so, wearied with 
the rush and crowding of the city, and the sorrows of its poor, 




NEW MILFOHD TASTOKS 



Rev. Frank B. Draper 
Professor of Mathematics 
and Chaplain, Ingleside 
School 

Rev. Marmaduke Hare 
Rector All Saints Me- 
morial Church 

Rev. Father John J. Burke 
Curate of Roman Catho- 
lic Church 



Rev. Timothy J. Lee 

Former Pastor of First 

Congregational Church 

Rev. Frank A. Johnson 
Pastor of First Congrega- 
tional Church and the 
Chairman of Religious 
Committee of the Bi- 
centennial 

Rev. Solomon D. Woods 

Pastor Baptist Church 

Northville Society 



Rev. Harris K. Smith 

Pastor of the Methodist 

Episcopal Church 

Rev. John F*. Plumb 
Arch Deacon and Rector 
of St. John's Episcopal 
Church 

Rev. Stephen Heacock 
Pastor of Advent Chris- 
tian Church 



The Sunday Exeecises 203 

and the ' weighing of fate and the sad discussion of sin,' I come 
here and find refreshment and repose. The large city has cer- 
tain great attractions, and, in some respects, life in it is far 
broader and greater than it can be elsewhere. That is the 
reason I went to New York. But the town, and the small city, 
have other advantages, and it is by those that my love of this 
place is kindled. And so, on this birthday of New Milford, I 
want to speak of those qualities which I prize so highly in this 
place. 

" And, first on the list, comes personal freedom. Thackeray 
said that England had fifty million people in it, mostly fools. 
Well, when you have an enormously big city, there are so many 
fools gathered together there, that it is not feasible and prac- 
ticable for the sensible people to be free. You must not carry 
a pistol, because there are so many ' gumps ' that cannot be 
trusted with firearms. You cannot let people walk on the grass, 
or they will destroy the foliage. It is all paternalism. The 
law is taking care of you. You cannot let people take their 
children into the park on a sled. They might get hurt. A cor- 
don of police guard the ice on the part of the lake that is not 
safe. If they did not, some idiot would skate into the water. 
Now, I resent being protected from myself. I feel like Ben. 
Franklin, ' Where freedom is, there is my country.' 

" Another good treasure you have is simplicity. Life here 
is less complex. There are so many things in city life that de- 
mand attention that our energies get scattered, and our atten- 
tion diverted, and our ways conventional and artificial. It is 
hard to express just what I mean; but life up here is less con- 
fused and more elemental and natural and real. That is a good 
thing. Then, you have the sunshine and the air and the open 
fields. You have what people who come up here from the 
Bowery call ' loneliness.' It is aloofness. One can withdraw 
here, can get away, can get out of sight, can hear that still 
small voice which speaks only through the peace of nature — 
can ' flee as a bird to the mountains.' One idea of holiness is 
that which is set apart. Your landscape has a holiness which 
is not shared by shaven lawns punctuated by statuary. Our 



S04 The Bi-Centennial, Exercises 

national emblem is the eagle, and there is an eagle spirit in the 
American people which likes the cliffs and the forests better 
than the boulevards and the parks. 

" Then, there are not so many of you but that you can know 
each other and be interested in each other and help each 
other. The so-called philanthropy, which is more inter- 
ested in institutions than it is in individuals, is a bad 
thing. What this world, with its suffering and sin and 
error, needs, is not more brown-stone laboratories and patent 
book-shelves and institutes for the uplift of the masses and the 
glorification of the millionaire rascals that endowed them ; what 
the world needs is men that are interested in the individuals that 
surround them. I have not twenty-five thousand dollars to give 
away ; but, if I had, I would pick out a worthy family that 
needed it and give it to them. I would endow a tra,desma7i and 
not a trade school. Now, conditions here are good, because of 
the human interest you take in each other. If there were five 
hundred thousand of you, such personal interest would be im- 
possible. Try to take a personal interest in one hundred thou- 
sand people. You cannot do it. The personal relations of 
employer and employed, of neighbors and friends, in a village 
are a priceless blessing. 

" All these things are characteristics of this place. 

" Besides this, it has its own history, its beautiful street, its 
scenery so exceptionally sweet and lovely — it is for these things 
that we celebrate its birthday." 

Dr. Ryder's address was entitled " The Village and the 
Nation." He spoke as follows : 

" In this picturesque, beautiful and impressive Celebration, 
the Bi-Centennial of the settlement of this region, thought is 
naturally turned to the village of New Milford and the com- 
munity life gradually developed here. There were certain fun- 
damental characteristics of this village life which you, who were 
a part of it in later days, appreciate much better than your 
speaker. And yet even a superficial knowledge of what was 
here begun and has been gradually developed impresses these 
fundamental characteristics. 



The Sunday Exercises 205 

" This was a simple and natural life. The speaker preceding 
me has developed eloquently this fact. Artificiality had not yet 
crept into the social conditions of this life. The value of a 
man was not estimated by his heredity nor his wealth. It was 
a pure, clean democracy where every man was a man in privi- 
lege and opportunity ' for a' that, and a' that.' 

" But another element of this village life was also evident 
from the first. This was the articulation of the community. 
Every one knew every other one within the confines of the set- 
tlement, although stretching along the edges of the beautiful 
rivers, down the valleys and plains, and up the slope of the 
stately old mountains. When Mary Jones' husband died and 
left her with a brood of little children, every man and woman 
in the community knew it, and most of them called upon Mary 
Jones with their burden of food or clothing or wood-shed sup- 
plies. It was the articulation of one life into another life, and 
of each life into the whole, that made the village of New Mil- 
ford and every village in New England so strong and safe and 
efficient. 

" But, little by little, these villagers in New Milford and 
other communities round about felt the need of the articulation 
of community interest into a larger whole. And so the com- 
munity of associated responsibility and help took in Waterbury, 
Norwalk, Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven and other 
villages and towns scattered over this general region. This 
articulated the separate communities into a larger whole and 
the commonwealth was created. It was not a formal govern- 
ment so much as a community of interest and sympathy and 
love and organized efficiency. These several communities be- 
came a commonwealth for protection and development. Self- 
control was the basis of governmental control. The village 
was strong and vigorous in so far as the individual man and 
woman were strong and vigorous. The commonwealth devel- 
oped these qualities of influence and strength only as the village 
developed them. And so this simple, this articulate life of the 
village became the life of the commonwealth. 

" Then a new condition arose. King George came across the 



206 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

water, established his forts, anchored his fleet in the harbor 
of another community that began as a village in the neighbor- 
ing colony of Massachusetts. There was need of protection 
and safeguard in a larger way than the group of communities 
or villages furnished. So there came the articulation of the 
commonwealth with that of other commonwealths, and the united 
colonial power came into being. This afterwards became, as 
we all know so well, the United States. 

" So, in constructive analysis, beginning with the unit of 
governmental power and influence, we find the village. No 
fairer or better or cleaner or more dignified than this village of 
New Milford existed in all the group of villages amid all the 
clustered commonwealths. A son of some Pilgrims from New 
Milford, who drifted into northern Ohio, who is your speaker 
at this moment, rejoices with you who have dwelt here in the 
East, in this magnificent and imposing Celebration of the found- 
ing of New Milford. 

" But a larger view than this must be taken if we would esti- 
mate the importance and meaning of this village Celebration. 
The articulation of interests in the life of our nation as it exists 
to-day is much more difficult than it was when these villages 
grew by natural processes into the early national life. Multi- 
tudinous and heterogeneous masses are mingled in our body 
politic to-day, coming from nations that know nothing about 
the traditions of Puritan, or Pilgrim, or Dutch, or Cavalier. 
In many of these nations from which these peoples come and 
mingle in our life, the only thought of government is that of 
power, of police force, or suppression. Danger threatens us 
as we attempt to assimilate into our own national life these 
heterogeneous masses. It is not that they are bad, but that 
they come to us with no such conceptions of the simplicity and 
articulation of life and government as our fathers possessed 
who established the villages of New England. Our responsi- 
bility is to spread everywhere the great principles that lay at 
the foundations of village life in early New England. It is 
not from northern Europe that immigrants come who are a 
menace to these institutions that have made the United States 



The Sunday Exeecises 207 

what they are to-day. The real problem is the assimilation of 
unassociated races who are making a large portion of our body 
politic. Twenty million of the eighty million who are citizens 
of the United States are of the brown-skinned, undeveloped 
races. They represent fundamentally different ideals from 
those that made New England and the southern colonial States 
the power they were. It is for us in this generation to stimu- 
late in these brown-skinned people the higher conceptions and 
loftier ideals represented in these villages that furnished the 
unit of development in the early years of the nation. There are 
two United States to-day, and we cannot neglect either of them 
with safety. There is Continental United States, the familiar 
old stretch of territory from ocean to ocean and from gulf to 
northern Alaska. This furnishes problems enough for the chil- 
dren of the Pilgrims to meet and solve. But another United 
States has been added in these later years, and that is Insular 
United States. They were brought to us through the arbitra- 
ment of war. We did not seek them ; we perhaps are the poorer 
for their possession. But the great problem that God in His 
providence has put upon us to-day is the elevation and redemp- 
tion of the masses of these island peoples. They have no vil- 
lage traditions or life to look back to. They have no intelligent 
conception of freedom. Morality is almost an unknown quality 
as we use the term. One great problem before Americans to- 
day, therefore, is the Americanizing and Christianizing of these 
masses that have become a part of our body politic, and whose 
future will largely determine the future of our entire nation. 

" The village ideal, the simple, natural life that the smaller 
communities illustrated, the articulation of interests into one 
common and homogeneous whole, is what is demanded to-day, 
and what we must struggle for and achieve if the nation re- 
mains in its integrity and strength and dignity. 

" When we analyze back to the village, we only go a part of 
the way. The unit after all was the home. One home articu- 
lated with other homes was the final analysis of strength and 
safety. It is the home, and not the church or the school, that 
holds men and women to that which is best and noblest. It was 



208 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

the home in the villages of New England, it was the home in 
New Milford, that determined its value and contributed to its 
beauty of community life. We have got to create in these 
masses that are coming among us the desire for the best, purest, 
noblest Christian home, or our entire civilization is in danger. 
If this Bi-Centennial of New Milford shall stir the hearts of 
the descendants of the brave men and women who established 
this village with a great passionate desire and an overmaster- 
ing determination to perpetuate these great ideals and visions 
which the fathers held and nourished in their homes and united 
in their community life, then this Bi-Centennial were indeed 
an occasion of deepest rejoicing and abiding value." 



SUNDAY EVENING 

At five o'clock a service was held in All Saints' Memorial 
Church (St. John's Congregation uniting), which was attended 
by pastors of the churches of several denominations — another 
illustration of that fine Christian fellowship prevailing in New 
Milford which the Union Meeting on " The Green " had sig- 
nally exemplified. The rector. Rev. Marmaduke Hare, preached 
an eloquent and profound sermon, in which he claimed that the 
master-force in the growth of mankind in all the higher quali- 
ties has been the truth and hope of the Gospel, and protested 
against imputing to nature, reason, science, philosophy, com- 
merce, and politics what belongs to Christianity. " Ethical 
societies," he said, " may preach ideals, parliaments prescribe 
methods, literature describe the movements and processes of 
civilization, but the Church of the living God supplies the moral 
dynamic which makes possible all the rest." 

At seven o'clock historical addresses were delivered at the 
Congregational Church and Saint John's Church, by Rev. 
Charles J. Ryder, D. D., of New York, and Rev. George S. 
Bennitt, D. D., of Jersey City, respectively. Dr. Ryder's sub- 
ject was " Pilgrims from New Milfgrb." He said: 

" Western Connecticut and Massachusetts contributed more 




MEMORiAi, Brir.nixG Axn public ltbrahy 




ALL SAIXrS' .MK-M()UL\L CHl'HCH 



The Sunday Exercises 209 

to the early settlement of northern Ohio probably than any 
other section of the country. Pilgrims from this portion of 
New England began early to find their way westward. Along 
the fertile valley of the Mohawk, on the edge of the great in- 
land seas, these settlers planted their homes. You can easily 
trace the line of their march in the intelligence and dignity of 
character that their descendants possess to-day in these regions. 
New Milford contributed to this body of Pilgrims that followed 
the sun toward its setting. As they went out, they left that 
which has been so eloquently set forth in various public ad- 
drosses during the progress of this Bi-Centennial of New Mil- 
ford. The beautiful valleys and imposing mountains, the clear 
rivers and foaming brooks, the marvelous, picturesque beauty 
(sf New Milford and its environment, they left behind them. 
They did not find these, as they planted their tents in the great 
forests of northern Ohio. How often have I heard one of these 
Pilgrims from New Milford describe her homesickness as she 
looked out upon the almost flat country, which the local clear- 
ing had revealed, into the dense forests that shut down upon 
the edge of this clearing on every side ! Turbid streams, muddy 
roads, wooden sidewalks, the plain and unattractive natural 
scenery, and the rough conditions of pioneer life were vastly 
different from the beautiful landscape and refined conditions 
of this home town from which they went out. 

" But they did not leave all, nor the best, of that which they 
had gathered in the life in New Milford, as they left its bor- 
ders and went overland by their own conveyance into Ohio. 
They took with them three fundamental conceptions of life. 
First, that of the Christian home ; second, that of the public 
school ; third, that of the Christian church. To these ideals, 
planted in the hearts of these early Pilgrims, may be traced the 
fruitage of the strong intellectual and moral life which has 
developed in the citizenship of northern Ohio. 

" These Pilgrims from New England found chiefly an oppor- 
tunity. The physical conditions were depressing and hard. 
The problem of life was serious and difficult, the hardships en- 
countered were rigorous and persistent ; but wherever these Pil- 



210 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

grims planted a colony in the Western Reserve, or New Con- 
necticut, as it was called, they established the Christian home, 
the public school, and the Christian church. 

" Philo Penfield Stewart, a Pilgrim from the neighboring 
town of Sherman, illustrates the character and purposes of these 
early settlers. He went into Ohio in 1832, and, even before his 
weary body could have rested from the long and tedious jour- 
ney, he began at once, in connection with Rev. J. R. Shipherd 
of Elyria, plans for the establishment of a college and colony 
at Oberlin. It is possible, as history hints, that the first white 
pioneer into Ohio was Ferdinand De Soto, who possibly pushed 
his way into the region of this great central State as early as 
1539. It is most fortunate, however, that not the descendants 
of De Soto, but the Pilgrims from New England and their de- 
scendants, gave the ideals and formative influences to this new 
commonwealth. That there should be the least percentage of 
illiteracy in the northern counties of Ohio, known still as the 
Western Reserve, of any part of the tabulated world, is not an 
accident. The schoolhouse was as much a part of their essen- 
tial requirements as the barn or the shop. When in the height 
of his wide-reaching influence. Dr. Joseph Coolc went once to 
Cleveland ; he carefully studied the conditions of the public 
schools of the Forest City. ITe afterwards bore testimony that 
' in coming from Boston, Massachusetts, to Cleveland, Ohio, he 
came wp in the character of the appointments and work in the 
public schools, and not down ' ; that ' the educational system of 
Cleveland was better than the educational system of Boston.' 
Your speaker having had somewhat intimate acquaintance with 
both systems, would speak an humble word of endorsement to this 
testimony of Dr. Cook. These Pilgrims from New Milford found 
mud, homeliness, forest, hardships, toil and privation. T^nt 
they found opportunity. This opportunity they improved to 
the best of their ability or of anv ability that human beings 
could command. They planted churches and worshiped within 
their sacred precincts with loving reverence; they built their 
schoolhouses and had no lack of teachers, for many of their 
wives and daughters had been teachers in Old Connecticut. 



The Sunday Exeecises 211 

They sent their children to school, sparing them from needed 
work on the farm or in the shop or store. They did this, be- 
cause they were building life, character ; were establishing a 
Christian civilization to outlast them and their immediate de- 
scendants. They did it, because they believed in God and man 
and in making the most of life. Better than all, they gathered 
in their homes around the clear-swept hearth of their open fire- 
places, in love, peace, and confidence. Often the crackling fire 
on the open hearth was the only light that the home possessed 
for the evening. Sometimes, as we learn from their records, 
they put melted tallow in a tin basin and hung a bit of cotton 
wicking over the side to light their humble homes. ' Two such 
lanterns,' they tell us, ' were sufficient to light up the church 
for evening service.' It was almost reverting to the type of 
the lamp used in early Jewish history, and quite to the profound 
Hebrew reverence. But whatever artificial light these Pilgrims 
had, they saw clearly the great purposes of existence, and read 
with undimmed vision ' their title clear ' to the best that devo- 
tion and energy and faith and courage could achieve. 

" When the great agitation came in favor of freedom, as 
against chattel slavery, the descendants of the New INIilford 
Pilgrims in northern Ohio did not flinch nor hesitate. Professor 
Hart, in his recent volume on ' Slavery and Abolition,' says : * 
' One reason for the force which abolition early acquired in 
Ohio was the fallow field waiting for it in the Western Reserve. 
This region, settled by Connecticut people between 1790 and 
1820, was still a little New England, its churches, schools, and 
local government closely modeled on those of Connecticut.' Nor 
did this ' fallow field ' among the Pilgrims from New Milford 
prove unproductive. Rustic lads, whom Dr. James Harris 
Fairchild, President of Oberlin College for many potential 
years, represented, bearing his testimony to these hard, early 
conditions, waded through the snow barefooted in order to at- 
tend school. Such lads could not be kept away from the priv- 
ileges of higher training. Colleges were immediately necessary. 
Such institutions were established, buildings erected, faculties 
gathered, lecture and class rooms crowded with eager pupils, as 

* Page 196 



212 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

by the magic wand of some scholastic magician. Within a 
few months of its establishment, Oberlin College had hundreds 
of pupils. They had brought together a faculty perhaps un- 
cqualed, man for man, in the faculty of any institution ever 
founded. They were giants, intellectually and morally. Their 
names to-day are wrought not alone in the intellectual and edu- 
cational history, but into the very warp and woof of our na- 
tional life. Ohio, the great West, the South, and the nation 
could hardly have been the great, united nation that it is, had 
it not been for these Pilgrims from New Milford and their de- 
scendants, who stood with heroic courage for the highest ideals, 
and strove to attain them at tremendous sacrifice and suffering. 

" Professor Hart is responsible for the following bit of his- 
tory : ' When Harriet Martineau attended an anti-slavery 
meeting, she found that she had given offense to the best society 
in Boston. Theodore Parker found his clerical brethren refus- 
ing to exchange pulpits with him ; " My life seems to me a com- 
plete failure socially ; here I am as much an outcast from 
society as though I were a convicted pirate." The eastern col- 
leges, almost without exception, were strongholds of pro-slavery 
feeling. ... In 1848, Charles Sumner, a graduate of 
Harvard, spoke to the students of the college. Longfellow 
said: " The shouts and the hisses and the vulgar interruptions 
grated on our ears. I was glad to get away ! " ' 

" But such a spirit of cowardice and weak surrender to the 
financial and social influence of the South as was manifested by 
many eastern colleges, was not that of the western colleges 
planted in the clearing of the great forests of the New Con- 
necticut largely by the Pilgrims of New Milford. They spoke 
out steady and strong against the ' twin relic of barbarism.' 
Professor Seabert, in his history of the ' underground railway,' 
bears testimony that through the Western Reserve almost every 
line of secret escape for the slave running toward the north 
star passed. At Oberlin, where the Pilgrims in whom your 
speaker is most profoundly interested had their home, eleven 
underground railroads passed. They radiated as many as the 
ten fingers of the two hands, and one hand had an extra finger. 



The Sunday Exercises 213 

It was the boast of these brave men and women, and the boast 
was proven by the fact, that no negro was ever taken back to 
slavery who reached the Western Reserve. How well I remem- 
ber those early incidents in my boyhood home! The Oberlin- 
Wellington rescue case is written in the histor}' of the nation. 
How the excitement and agitation of that New England village 
in Ohio come to me as I think of it! It was but a few months 
after the death of my father, Oliver Roberts Ryder, a Pilgrim 
from Danbury to this same Western Reserve. A negro boy, 
John Price by name, had escaped from slavery. He had been a 
resident for some time in Oberlin. Through the intrigue of a 
pro-slavery countryman near the village, he was waylaid, cap- 
tured by a band of slave-holders, bound and gagged, thrown 
into a wagon, and hurried off to a railroad station on the rail- 
road leading into the South. The descendants of our Connecti- 
cut Pilgrims of the town heard of it. Prayer was offered first, 
for faith in God was the very threshold over which they passed 
to the accomplishment of any brave purpose. Wagons were 
hastily gathered, firearms piled into them, and away the Oberlin 
rescuers went to win this black boy, rather worthless fellow in 
himself, to personal freedom. This was his constitutional right 
under the Declaration of Independence, for he surely was born 
to be ' free and equal ' in privilege. He was rescued from the 
slave-holders, although they were armed to the teeth and dis- 
played their guns, but did not dare to use them. The faculty, 
the Sunda}'^ school superintendent, the leading business men 
were in this band of rescuers, and were afterwards thrown into 
prison for the technical crime of their acts. Here again the 
splendid traditions which these Pilgrims brought from their 
eastern home came in play. Obey the law they must. They 
could do it by not breaking it, or by submitting to the penalty. 
They chose the latter, and no one made the slightest effort to 
escape, but submitted without a moment's hesitation to the 
processes of the law, and stood before the jury. They were 
not subpaMia jumpers, and in this showed that they were not 
criminal in intent, as those who seek to escape the processes of 
the law always are. 



214 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

" No, be it said to the glorious memory of the Pilgrims of 
New INIilford and Western New England, thoy did not follow 
in the Avake of many of the larger institutions in the East, and 
cringe and whimper and grovel under the crack of the whip of 
the slave-holding aristocracy. Open and free and manly, they 
stood out for the defense of freedom, whether applied to the 
person of black man or white man. It was the highest type of 
educational training which any institution can furnish. It was 
not tamely to learn axioms or to demonstrate mathematical 
problems, but to know, to believe, to defend that which was 
best and truest. These worthy Pilgrims who went out in the 
early part of the nineteenth century into this western forest, 
stood for this with all the sturdy strength of these mighty trees 
that shadowed their homes. It is because thev went, and others 
like them, that the Buckeye State has risen to and maintained 
her dominant influence in the nation's life. It is due to these 
Pilccrims, more than to anv other one force, that the whole 
Northwest was from the first saved the disorace of slavery. 
Institutions of leamincT in which women as well as men had the 
ricrht to the best education were planted. ThcA'^ maintnined the 
school, the church, the home in everv hamlet and city and vil- 
lage: and, to-day, this refrion thev settled presents the finest, 
largest, and most comprehensive tvpe of Christian civilization 
that the earth affords. All fjlorv. then, to these Pilgrims from 
New Milford ! They, like one of old, ' went out not knowing 
whither they went.' They dared and suffered and died, but 
always achieved. Well may this village, a beautiful o^em set in 
the midst of these rolling hills, rejoice in its own noble develop- 
ment and progress and prosperity. Your life here is almost 
ideal. The conditions are as fine as the world affords. But, as 
you rejoice in this Bi-Centennial of your own founding, forget 
not, O brave and true men and women of this generation ; forget 
not, O Christians of these churches ; forget not, O patrons of 
this redeemed nation, that the Pilgrims that went out from your 
firesides and homes into the great West inaugurated the tre- 
mendous forces that have moved on in increasing power and 
breadth until the whole nation has been made the rihcer by their 
mighty power." 



The Sunday Exercises 215 

Dr. Bennitt's address at Saint John's Church was as follows : 

". . . Religious matters, during our beginnings, did not 
run very smoothly. The desire for greater religious freedom 
caused a considerable falling away of sundry church members 
to Quakerism in 1731 and 1732. There were also families 
who had come into the town, and brought with them an aflTec- 
tion for their old Church in England; and, as the English 
Church had been established in Stratford in 1707, and in 
Newtown in 1732, only fifteen miles away, the influence of this 
Church began to exert itself here. \\T^ien the Rev. John 
Beach . . . established the services of the Church of 
England in Newtown, the Churchmen of New Milford jour- 
neyed on Saturdays to Newtown, carrying their own pro- 
visions, and the C^iurchmen there gave them their lodgings. 
He baptized their children, and came here to officiate at a 
marriage in 1739. He began services here about 1742. He 
sent Mr. Barzilla Dean here as a lay reader, services being 
rendered in one of the houses of a Church family. 

" It is stated that certain Churchmen in New Milford were 
fined for refusing to attend the meetings of the Established 
Church. These fines were, by recommendation of the Rev. 
Mr. Beach, paid, and copies of the proceedings taken to be 
forwarded to the King and Council. The fact becoming 
known, the authorities refunded the money, and granted per- 
mission to build a church which before had been refused. . . . 
In 1745-6 materials were gathered, and the English Church 
in New Milford erected. 

" Let us glance for a few moments at the village street at this 
time. The early settlers had laid out their town plot, because 
of a beautiful spring of water, at the head of the street, nearly 
in front of Ingleside School, and about under the present side- 
walk. The water from this spring meandered its way down 
through the village street, bowing from the spring to the 
south end of the street, where it formed a small pond, which 
was callf^d ' The Goose Pond.' This accounts for the east 
side of Main Street hoxvin^, while the west side is straight, 
and the street opening out considerably wider at the south 



216 The Bi-Centenxial Exercises 

end, on account of ' The Goose Pond.' This spring was 
there in my boyhood days, although an open ditch had been 
constructed through the middle of ' The Green,' in which the 
stream flowed. Since the construction of the water works, 
however, and the laying of pipes through the street, both 
the spring and the stream have disappeared. 

" The First Established Church stood near the head of INIain 
Street, near the spring, and the land granted for the Church 
of England was in the street, east of Mr. Samuel Prindle's 
house, near where the old pound used to stand, at the south 
end of Main Street, therefore, and in the middle of the street. 
Here they built the first Church of England in New Milford. 
It was a frame building, forty feet by thirty. It had 
two rows of windows, one above the other, and presented the 
appearance of a two-story house, and the door was in the 
side. It was surmounted by a turret in the center of the 
building, and stood ends to the east and west. The door was 
on the south side, and within, on the north side, stood the 
pulpit. It was not until 1756 that the building was finished, 
when, upon the building of the second meeting-house, it was 
voted to give three-quarters of the body seats and two pews 
in the old meeting-house to the Church of England. Then, 
the church was furnished with the square box seats, and the 
pulpit stood aloft, beneath which was the reading desk for the 
prayers, and, beneath that, the pew for the clerk, to lead in 
the responses, and to tune the Psalms. A curtain across 
the corner served as a robing-room for the vesting of the 
clergymen, and, around little tables which were placed in the 
middle of the square box seats, gathered the families of the 
Churchmen of that early time. And on account of the love 
and affection they bore to the Rev. John Beach, of Newtown, 
who first planted the church in their midst, they named it 
' Saint John's Church ' ; and it has borne that name ever since, 

" The Rev. Solomon Palmer, a Congregational minister of 
Cornwall, dissatisfied with his orders, conformed to the Church, 
and went to England for ordination. After that, he returned 
here, and became the first Church of England minister who 



The Sunday Exercises S17 

resided here, from 1754 to 1760. . . . He was succeeded 
by the Rev. Thomas Davies in 1761. He was a missionary 
sent by the ' Venerable Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts.' ... a graduate of Yale Col- 
lege, a man who had become a minister of the church from 
conviction, a gentleman and a scholar, a reader of the service, 
and preacher of the highest order. . . . Under this man 
of God the Church outgrew its small building, and entered 
upon the construction of a new, more commodious, and 
churchly edifice. 

" I have a copy of the diary of the Rev. Thomas Davies, 
containing most of his ministerial acts, and some of these 
shed considerable light on the old times. He records, on 
November 15, 1761* : ' On St. Pumpion's (Pumpkin's) Day, I 
baptized at Ethel Stone's, Martha, Ester and Edmond, chil- 
dren of Ethel Stone, Hannah of Gad Sperry, Joseph and Hulda 
of Samuel Peet, and David Smith of David Smith.' 

" He alludes to St. Pumpion's Day in other records, which 
leads us to suppose that this was a colloquial term in those 
days for designating the annual New England Thanksgiving, 
which was celebrated by an abundance of pumpkin pies. 

" I have a manuscript sermon of the Rev. Thomas Davies, 
preached at New Milford, written in the finest hand, showing 
clearness of thought, a fine choice of language, and rising to 
eloquence, in pressing home to the hearts of his hearers the 
word of God. 

" The Rev. Mr. Davies was succeeded by the Rev. Richard 
Clark from Milford, who remained here until 1787. He was 
here during the Revolution. The church begun by Mr. 
Davies was completed sufficiently to begin services therein, 
and the old church was sold to the town for a town house. 
This was removed to the head of Main Street and used for 
several years. 

" The second Church of England, begun under Rev. Mr. 
Davies, had Partridge Thatcher for its architect, but was 
modeled after the church at Stratford, but somewhat plainer 
in its ornamentation. 



218 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

'" It stood, facing the road towards Butter Brook, a few rods 
north of the first church, had a steeple which projected out 
in front of the building, and long windows round at the top. 
Within, it had the high pulpit with circular stairs ; its 
reading desk and clerk's pew beneath, making what was called 
a three-decker. A communion table was in front of all, and 
the whole was surrounded by a communion rail. A gallery 
was across the south end; and a curtain across the corner, 
served again as a robing-room. The service of that day had 
its peculiar features. The clergyman was robed in a long- 
surplice and black scarf. He wore a white wig, to give age 
and dignity to his ministrations. The surplice was exchanged 
for a black silk gown and bands before the sermon, the con- 
gregation all knelt for the prayers, and, in doing so, turned 
around and knelt to the seats. The clerk (or dark, as the 
people called him) doled out a line of the old Metrical Psalms, 
and the congregation sang it, and waited for another line. 
There was no fire in the church, and, in winter, the women 
carried their foot stoves to keep their feet warm. 

" The Revolution, however, gave great discouragement to 
the Church of England people, for everything English was 
hated by the inhabitants, and the Rev. Mr. Clark, after ten 
years of struggle, gave up and fled to Nova Scotia in 1787, 
and the church was closed. 

" The kind of Church people that were made in the Colonial 
days of the Church in Connecticut may be illustrated by the 
name of Samuel Peet, a devout Churchman from Stratford, 
who came to settle in the New Milford North Purchase, in the 
vicinity of Rock Cobble, west of Peet Hill. He selected a site 
for his future home near a great rock, which, by some con- 
vulsion of nature, had been rent asunder, leaving a portion 
like an altar between, with two natural steps to ascend it. 
Here, Samuel Peet, the Hermit, knelt day by day to worship 
his God, and the holes he chiseled out for his knees on the top 
of that altar are to be seen to this day. He erected his house 
just west of the altar, and here reared his family, desiring to 
be buried between the rocks, but, as it was found they came 



The Sunday Exeucisjes 219 

together just below the surface of the ground, he was buried 
on the east side of the altar rocks, in one of the most romantic 
burjing-places of this town. Now, in 1789, when the Rev. 
Mr. Clark had fled to Nova Scotia, and the church in New 
Preston was boarded up to save its windows from being de- 
stroyed, Samuel Peet was on his death-bed, desiring to receive 
the Holy Communion. He sent a messenger away down to one 
of the churches nearer the Sound, for a priest. It was in 
March, and the roads were very heavy, and a prolonged time 
was required. 

" Meanwhile, Samuel Peet was nearing his end. He asked 
that bread and wine be prepared and placed on a table beside 
his bed, that no time be lost when the priest of the Church 
arrived. Again and again, he sent out to see if the messenger 
and the priest might be seen coming in the distance ; and, as 
the end grew nearer, and the priest had not arrived, Samuel 
Peet said, ' Let us pray,' and, when all had knelt around his 
bed, he prayed : ' O Blessed Jesus, Our great High Priest, 
come down and consecrate this Bread and this Wine to be Thy 
Body and Blood.' And, after silence had been kept for a 
space, he reached out his trembling hand and communicated 
himself, after which he soon fell asleep in Jesus. Who shall 
say that was not a valid consecration ! 

" The priest of the Church arrived that night, and remained 
to commit his body to the earth, looking for the general res- 
urrection in the Last Day. 

" It is a tradition that some of the rectors of the Church of 
England had a habit of talking to themselves, and, behind the 
curtain while they were robing, would often repeat over the 
notices to be given out, the most interesting being the pub- 
lishing of the banns of matrimony, which was the custom in 
those days. On one occasion the banns were published between 
Orin Marsh and Maria Hill, who lived upon the plains. Now, 
there were in the Church, Orman Marsh of Boardman's Bridge, 
and Maria Hill, of Aspetuck, whom the congregation thought 
were the parties published, greatly to their confusion. That 
day, the second-named began their acquaintance, suggested 



^^0 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

by the banns, and, in due time, their banns were likewise pub- 
lished. 

" The Rev. Enoch Huntington, who entered upon the rector- 
ship in 1827, began parish records, and, upon the first page, 
states that there was a congregation of about thirty. No 
Sunday school, and no music. Also the church was in need of 
repair, but he concluded not to spend much upon it, but later 
to build a new church, the third one of the society. The new 
rector soon gained the love and esteem of the people in gen- 
eral, and the attendance of young people became a prominent 
feature in his ministry. So devoted were his people, that they 
are spoken of, when the church roof was old and leaky, as 
sitting in their pews during a shower, with their umbrellas 
up, listening to the preaching of the word of God. A bell 
was placed in this old church steeple, the first one the church 
possessed. In 1837 a new church was erected on the east 
side of Main Street at the corner of what is now called Church 
Street. This church was a frame building, with long win- 
dows, square at the top. It had a square tower upon it, and, 
within, a gallery around three sides, a massive mahogany pul- 
pit, reading desk below, and a small mahogany communion 
table in front, with two mahogany chairs on either side, a 
communion rail enclosing them. A vestry-room was built 
in the rear, and the rector entered the pulpit from stairs in 
the vestry-room, and appeared through a door cut in the 
wall behind the pulpit. 

" The pulpit and reading desk were covered with cushions of 
black silk velvet, with heavy silk-corded fringe across the 
front, and large silk tassels suspended at the corners. There 
was a sofa seat behind the reading desk attached to the 
pulpit. 

" The pews had doors with large black tin plates attached 
with numbers on. This church was considered very handsome 
in its furnishings, and was the pride of both rector and people. 
It was furnished with a new bell, and into this came the first 
organ owned by Saint John's Church. Rev. Mr. Huntington 
resigned in 1848, and, after his decease several years later, 
was brought here and buried in the village cemetery, having 



The Sunday Exercises ^21 

this honorable record — of being- the rector of Saint John's 
Parish longer than any other clergyman from its beginning 
to the present day. 

" During the incumbency of Rev. Wilham H. Reese, I was 
baptized in that old church, out of the silver bowl placed on 
the communion table. When I was a little child, I well re- 
member how Bishop Brownell catechised the children, standing 
about the chancel rail, but, perhaps, as I grew older, the most 
vivid impression made upon me was the preparation for, and 
attendance upon, the old-time Christmas Eve service. Ever- 
greens were gathered upon the Plains, and the people assembled 
at Mr. George McMahon's to tie them. They were gathered 
in Aspetuck, and the people assembled at Mr. Marshall Hill's 
or Mr. Stephen Morehouse's. They were gathered at the 
village, and the people assembled at the house of my father, 
Noble S. Bennitt, on Bennitt Street. The refreshments con- 
sisted of a pan of doughnuts, round and sugared. The crack- 
ing fire on the hearth consumed the broken branches, and the 
young people remained for a social time afteK their elders 
had departed. Such large ropes of evergreens were tied, and 
afterwards suspended from corner to comer of the church, 
and all around the walls, and in front of the gallery ! 

" White covers of bleached muslin covered the pulpit and 
reading desk, to which were attached fringes made of the 
needles of the pine, by Miss Bostwick, afterwards Mrs. Leroy 
Buck. Mottoes of evergreen on white cloth were put up on 
the walls, and candelabra, of five candles each, across the ends 
of the pulpit and desk cushions. Miss Cornelia Boardman 
brought a large fluid lamp with a glass globe and put it on 
the communion table. The people reserved their whitest and 
purest tallow to make dipped candles to hang up in tin back 
candlesticks under the gallery, while Edgar and Henry Wells 
made a great star of five points, covered it with evergreens, 
and suspended it from the ceiling in the middle of the church, 
containing as many candles as it was the year of the century. 
This was the only time in the year that the church was liglitcd 
up, and the people of the town turned out and filled the church 
and its galleries to overflowing. The good old Christmas 



222 Thj£ Bi-Centennial Exeecises 

Eve service of the old times, who that was then alive shall 
ever forget it! 

" But the solemnity of the old-time Sunday comes up with 
all its hallowed associations. The Sunday church bells, with 
the orderly ringing and tolling of their first bells and last bells ; 
with their solemn tolling for a death — nine for a man, seven for 
a woman, five for a boy, three for a girl! 

" The sleigh bells, too, bass ones and tenor ones, jingling all 
the week in the winter time, but no sleigh bells on Sunday ! I 
well remember when two young men, in their want of respect 
for the traditions of Sunday, drove through the village street 
with sleigh bells on their horse on the Lord's Day, thereby 
shocking the sober-minded people .of the churches and the 
town. 

" The social gatherings of the people come back to one, as 
he recalls the old times, also. The annual donation parties 
given by the parishioners to their parsons, when, it used to be 
said, ' The people would bring all kinds of good things to 
the parsonage, and then remain for a good social time, spread 
all the good things brought for a feast, and then largely 
consume them before they departed.' 

" Other social gatherings had their attractions for the peo- 
ple, but I recall one which was to occur, but never took place. 

" It was on the coldest day of February, I860, when, in large 
sleighs, a company of people set out for a dinner party to be 
given upon the Plains. As they passed down the Main Street, 
the bell of Saint Jolm's Church was tolling for a funeral 
about to be held within it. It was thereupon agreed to stop 
and attend the services, warm themselves by the fire, and then 
proceed on their journey. . . . The clergyman took for 
the text of his funeral sermon, which In those days was a 
very dignified discourse, ' It is better to go to the house of 
mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for this is 
the end of all men, and the living will lay it to heart.' Con- 
sternation filled the hearts of all. The women and the chil- 
dren remained in the church by the fire, and the men went to 
the village cemetery to assist in the burial; after which all 



The Sunday Exeecises 223 

returned to their homes. The effect of the sermon had been 
marvelous, and the hving had laid it to heart. The funeral 
was that of the widow of Dr. Amaziah Wright. 

" Rev. Charles G. Acly, who became the rector in 1856, 
wrought a good work here, and, under him, the church was 
enlarged in the summer of 1860, by the nave being extended 
nearly twice its length. A recess chancel was added, and a 
stained-glass chancel window given, as a memorial of the Hon. 
Elijah and Mary Anna Boardman — the first stained-glass win- 
dow in the town. The old mahogany pulpit was made into an 
altar. There was an altar cloth of red which served for the 
whole year, a beautiful reading desk and pulpit combined, 
which stood outside the chancel rail, and, in the center, before 
the altar, given by Mr. Solomon E. Bostwick, a pedestal with 
a marble bowl for a font. 

" In this church I began my first work in the Church of God 
by blowing the first organ the church ever owned, and Miss 
Schroder, now Mrs. George W. Wright, was the organist at 
that time. We sang the Metrical Psalms and the few hymns 
then bound up with the Prayer Book. The Te Deum was gen- 
erally read, but on high occasions we rendered Jackson's Te 
Deum. The old Gloria in Excelsis was always sung at the 
end of the Psalm for the Day in the afternoon, and sometimes 
Greatore's Bonum est and BeTiedicite after the Lesson. On 
Communion Day, once a month, after sermon, the choir came 
down in the body of the church, and there was no music. But 
Easter was distinguished by the choir remaining in the gal- 
lery and singing the Sanctus. In that church, I was confirmed 
and ordained to the holy ministry by Bishop John Williams, 
and, to that church, I came afterwards to preach my first 
sermon in my native town. One can hardly imagine my feel- 
ings, as I came to stand for the first time before my elders, 
teachers, kindred, and those to whom I had looked up from 
childhood. It was a trying moment. I preached a written 
sermon, for fear I might be embarrassed. When it was all 
over, and some one in the churchyard, during the noon hour, 
ventured to call it a good sermon, one of the men spoke up 



£5itt The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

and said, ' Yes, if he zorote it! ' Surely, ' A prophet is not 
without honor, save in his own country, and among his own 
kin.' Stirred by this remark, which came to my knowledge, I 
preached without notes that afternoon, and did the same upon 
every visit to New Milford for many years following. 

" The Rev. Mr. Acly was a good man, and a conscientious 
priest of the Church of God ; painstaking in his sermon prep- 
aration, a good reader and preacher, while as a pastor he 
went in and out among his people for twenty years beloved 
by them. He resigned in 1876, but continued to reside here 
until his death in 1880, and he was buried in the village ceme- 
tery, awaiting the resurrection of the just. 

" He was succeeded by the Rev. Alfred S. Clark, who was 
rector from 1876 to 1879. While his stay was only four 
years, yet he is remembered with much affection. The Rev. 
Edward L. Wells, D. D., became the next rector, whose elo- 
quence can never be forgotten, and by him was started the 
project of building a new stone church for Saint John's 
Parish. Plans were drawn and accepted, but, in less than a 
year, he was removed by death, in 1880. 

" Rev. Edwin R. Browne succeeded him, and, as the contract 
for the new church had already been made, he carefully at- 
tended to its erection. This was carried forward for two 
years, and entirely paid for by the congregation, so that on 
Thursday, the fifteenth day of March, 1883, we all assembled 
to take part in its consecration. 

" The Rt. Rev. John Wilhams, D. D., Bishop of Connecticut, 
the Rt. Rev. Charles Quintard, D. D., Bishop of Tennessee, 
and thirty of the clergy of this and other dioceses, met to 
put on their vestments in the old church, before proceeding to 
the new. The emotions which filled my soul on that day were 
many and varied. It was the last act to be performed in the 
old Saint John's Church. I went into our old family pew, 
where I had grown up to manhood, and, there, I put on my 
vestments. I went up to the chancel rail and, kneeling down, 
offered the last prayer in that old church — where I had first 
heard the service of the Book of Common Prayer, first listened 



The Sunday Exercises 225 

to the preaching of the word of God, — whoso walls had wit- 
nessed my baptism, my confirmation, and my ordination to 
the holy ministry — and I said, ' Oh, to have enduring churches 
of stone, where the holy associations of a lifetime may never 
be disturbed ! ' It was this thought which led me forth to 
assist in the services of the consecration of the new Saint 
John's Church of stone, where the services might hereafter 
continue, undisturbed, from generation to generation. The 
vested procession of bishops and clergy walked from the old 
church to the new. The day was full of sunlight, and even 
the March winds seemed to cease, so as to give us Heaven's 
own benediction. We entered this beautiful stone church, 
filled with a congregation which occupied its whole capacity. 
Bishop Williams then consecrated this new Saint .John's 
Church, and called upon me to read the sentence of consecration. 

" That day was the greatest red letter day this parish ever 
saw — twenty-five years ago, on the fifteenth day of March 
next! 

" The Rev. Mr. Browne continued his ministry here until 
1890. He was a most indefatigable parish visitor, and the 
sympathy of his people and their prayers followed him, in 
the affliction which afterward came upon him. 

" He was followed by the Rev. E. T. Sanford, who was the 
rector from 1891 to 1895, a man of exceedingly lovable char- 
acter, who endeared himself to all. 

" He was succeeded by the Rev. John F. Plumb in 1896, who 
after eleven years still continues in the rectorship. His char- 
acter and ability are so well known among his people, that it 
would not become me to enter into them here. Sufl'ice it, then, 
to say, that he is held in such honor and respect by his brethren 
of the clergy of his Diocese, that they elected him Arrhdcicon 
of Litchfield County some years ago, which position he now 
holds with honor to himself, and with appreciation by his par- 
ish and friends. May he long continue to go in and out among 
you as your rector, pastor, friend, and long continue to oc- 
cupy his high and honorable position, as the venerable Arch- 
deacon of Litchfield County." 



THE AUTOMOBILE PARADE 

No feature of the whole Bi-Centennial Celebration partook 
so much of the nature of an experiment, perhaps, as the Auto- 
mobile Parade of Monday, which took place a little before 
noon. It was the first event of the kind that had ever occurred 
in New Milford, and there were consequently no precedents 
to go by. It was, however, an unqualified success. Fifteen deco- 
rated autos, followed by nearly a score without decorations, 
were in line. The owners of the decorated autos were: 

Henry D. Hine, New Milford, Conn. 

Geo. T. Soule, New Milford, Conn. 

A. N. Trott, Waterbury, Conn. 

H. L. Randall, New Milford, Conn. 

Edward S. Hine, New Rochelle, N. Y. 

Mrs. Isaac B. Bristol, New Milford, Conn. 

Jas. S. Robertson, Pittsfield, Mass. 

John Bauman, New Haven, Conn. 

E. M. Watson, Sr., Jersey City. 

C. F. Long, Jersey City. 

Peter Peterson, New Milford, Conn. 

C. W. Lines, New Britain, Conn. 

J. E. Murphy, Southbury, Conn. 

H. Lake, Brooldield, Conn. 

Robert Dunlap, New Milford, Conn. 

The judges were George B. Noble of Northampton, Mass., 
Mrs. Dr. Wallace of Glen Ridge, N. J., and Miss Beatrice 
Fisher of Montreal, Canada. j 

The three prizes (silver cups) were awarded as follows; \ 
Henry D. Hine, New Milford, first; A, N. Trott, Waterbury, 
Conn., second ; Mrs. Isaac B. Bristol, New Milford, third. ( 
Robert Dunlap was given a special honorable mention. 

226 



The Automobile Parade 227 

The decoration of Mr. Henry Hine's car was very dainty 
and elaborate. It was done in white, pink, and purple. In 
front of the chauffeur was a Cupid, driving three white doves 
with white and purple ribbons. Before the machine were 
banners inscribed with the figures 1707-1907. The tonneau 
was banked with evergreens and wild flowers. The rear tire 
on the tonneau was covered with a wreath of evergreens, in 
the center of which was suspended a Cupid with bow and 
arrow. The chauffeur and the lady passengers wore white 
and pink. 

Mr. Trott's car bore a canopy of salmon pink, olive green, 
and white crepe paper flowers, and carried as passengers 
Dr. and Mrs. Bragaw in Colonial attire. The wheels and the 
back of the tonneau were similarly decorated with crepe paper. 

Mrs. Bristol's car was decorated with laurel, ferns, and 
white daisies, supplemented by yellow and white bunting, and 
carried several passengers in white, with daisies in their hair. 

Mr. Dunlap's car was literally covered with grass-green 
and white draperies and bore an arch of these colors. Its lady 
passengers wore white gowns and white picture hats trimmed 
with green. 

Mr. Peterson's car, with a colossal figure of Uncle Sam, 
and Mr. Randall's with festoons of lemons, gave rise to much 
merriment. The other cars were decorated with flags and 
bunting; Colonial blue and yellow bunting; white and pale- 
green bunting ; daisies and flags ; peonies and daisies. The 
party-colored cars presented a brilliant and beautiful picture, 
as they coursed rapidly round and round " The Green," and 
evoked many outbursts of hearty applause. 



THE HISTORICAL MEETING 

The Historical Meeting of Monday afternoon, the next im- 
portant event in the Bi-Centennial Celebration, was presided 
over by Frederic M. Williams. Mr. Williams, after a 
few genial words of greeting, introduced, as the first speaker, 
Dr. Samuel Hart, President of the Connecticut Historical 
Society, explaining, as he did so, that New Milford wel- 
comes her guests, not only with the best that she has, l)ut 
with the best that there is. 
Dr. Hart spoke as follows : 

" The recurring anniversaries of the towns of our ancient 
State are bringing before us, as in a series of living pictures, 
the history of the whole commonwealth and of all its parts. 
Beginning, within the easy memory of many now living, with 
the quarter-millennials of the first settled towns, Hartford and 
its sister towns on the Great River, Saybrook at its mouth, 
New Haven on its fair harbor at the mouth of the Quinnipiac, 
and then its allied towns, Guilford to the east and Milford, your 
mother-cit}'^, to the west, we are passing now to the bi-centen- 
nials of those, the history of which begins in the opening years 
of the eighteenth century. Our origins have been brought 
before us, and we have studied again the men and the times, 
the founders of our first colonies and the foundations which 
they laid, the early history of two differently ordered federa- 
tions or groups of organized conmiunities, and their union 
into one government under a charter from the English king 
which made them almost independent of his authority. We are 
passing on now to another period, when, under varied influences 
and in changed circumstances, many of our most beautiful and 
prosperous towns were founded. Two years ago Newtown, 
which once had part of its boundary-line in common with you, 

228 



The Historical Meeting 229 

observed its bi-centennial ; and tlie two-hundredth anniversaries 
of Derby and Woodbury and Waterbury and Danbury — to 
mention only those in this neighborhood — were earlier than 
that. 

" There was a movement of life into this part of Connecti- 
cut, the meaning and result of which will be brought before 
you by those who have studied it in its details, and can describe 
it with local color. Without repeating or anticipating their 
words, I may venture to ask you to think of the difference 
which a little more than seventy years had made in the motives 
that swayed men's minds, and the impressions that were made 
on them by the new lands which they occupied. One thinks of 
the stern resolve, both political and ecclesiastical, which sent 
Hooker and his company on their long walk through the wil- 
derness till they came to the river and crossed it into a strange 
land, with a determination like that of the father of the 
faithful when he crossed the great river of the eastern world ; 
and then one questions whether they admired the beauty of 
the meadows, and one feels sure that when they climbed the 
hills and looked down into the more beautiful valley of the 
Tunxis, they were drawn by it to travel still further west. 
One follows in mind the military instinct which saw the im- 
portance of the control of the Connecticut River, and built a 
fort at its mouth, and levied dues on traffic and transportation, 
and laid out streets for the houses of people of quality who were 
expected to come to dwell there. And one thinks of the sur- 
prises which befell those who sailed slowly along the shore of 
the Sound, looking into inlet and bay, and finding at the Fair 
Haven a place where they might build a city after the pattern 
of the heavenly Jerusalem, and in it dwell and get gain. 

" In each of these early instances there was an element of 
romance, of strong conviction of duty, mingled with an appre- 
ciation alike of the beautiful and the practical, that combina- 
tion which, as Horace told us long ago, ' carries every vote.' 
To some extent this had passed away two hundred years ago, 
when possession was taken of the farming lands, and the fair, 
though rugged, hillsides enclosing the river valley in which we 



230 Tpie Bi-Centennial Exercises 

now stand. The settlers, who came up into the high grounds 
from the shores of the Sound, did not leave, for the most part, 
on account of disagreement with their neighbors in matters 
civil or ecclesiastical, nor with a special sense of divine calling 
or mission. They were rather led by the Anglo-Saxon spirit 
of colonization to settle on new soil, to extend former indus- 
tries or to undertake new ones, and to organize new units of 
life in the body politic. Still, we cannot doubt that when 
they, too, looked over the fields they saw more than the possi- 
bility of gathering harvests and crops from them, and that 
when they followed the water-courses they did more than 
estimate the use which they might make of the force of the 
falling stream. They had something of the enthusiasm of dis- 
covery, and something of the joy of those who first turn na- 
ture's forces to man's account. It is worth our while, as we 
go back in mind to these beginnings, to try to think as they 
thought, who first looked upon the natural features of the 
landscape, which it takes much more than two centuries mate- 
rially to change, and to see why they chose as they did, who 
fixed on this spot as their home, 

" In this regard, there is in all our settlements, early and 
late, something that they have in common, which appeals more, 
I am inclined to think, to the philosopher than to the historian. 
Perhaps the student of history delights rather in noting the 
differences in the plans and purposes of those who settled our 
early towns, and in finding in each, as he readily may, some 
detail of character or event which marks it with a special in- 
terest, and almost always brings in the suggestion of a special 
romance. As your early history is read before you to-day in 
detail, you are reminded how it differs from the history of 
every other town in Connecticut. At its beginning you hear 
of names which give it a stamp peculiarly its own : that of the 
first minister, continued by an honorable succession through 
all the generations to this day : that of the early settler who 
lived here in a log hut on land which he had bought of the 
Indians and lived to be Attorney General of Massachusetts ; 
somewhat later, that of the man who came here as a shoemaker 



The Historical Meeting 231 

and removed hence as a judge, to become one of the few lead- 
ers in the constitutional history of the land ; and with them the 
names of others which shed a special luster on your annals. 
Again, the importance of the Indians in this neighborhood, 
both in numbers and (as it would seem) in influence and char- 
acter, suggests an almost unique chapter of history, especially 
when we note that it led to the sojourn of the remarkable man 
who led hither his band of Moravian missionaries and labored 
not in vain among the aborigines before he withdrew to make 
a permanent settlement in another province, and later to return 
to his home in Europe. And, if you care to boast of it, you 
share with but one or two other towns the honor of having 
had congregations of the Glassites — who under their name of 
Sandemanians will always be remembered for having had In 
their eldership one of the greatest men of science of a genera- 
tion ago — and you have the exclusive honor of having been 
the home of the Jemimaites. Certainly, no two communities 
are exactly alike, and it is in the study of their differences that 
much of our pleasure in the reading of their history consists. 
" While I bring to you to-day, Mr. President, a greeting 
on behalf of the Historical Society of the State, I venture 
to ask you and all the citizens of this venerable town, and 
all who are interested in her annals already written, and in 
the record which she is to make in years to come, not to allow 
the interest of these memorial days to pass away with the days 
themselves. This week is bringing to the memory of some 
of you that which you have already heard with your ears and 
your fathers have declared unto you, while It is teaching many 
others, and In particular the youths and maidens, their first 
lessons In the history of the community In which their lot Is 
cast. The story of the founders and those who carried on 
their work, who they were and what they did, what New Mil- 
ford was In Itself and what part It played In the State and the 
Republic, told again now in greater detail than it has ever 
been told before — do not let it be soon or readily forgotten. 
See to It that the whole town becomes a sort of historical so- 
ciety, for the appreciation and preservation of that which Is 



232 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

old, for the lending of a proper perspective to that which 
belongs to our own day, for preparation rightly to understand 
and rightly to value and use that which is coming. They best 
do the duties of the present, they best provide for the future, 
who read and value the lessons of the past." 

The second speaker. Chief Justice Baldwin, was presented 
to the audience by Mr. Williams with these words : " New 
Milford has had many notal)le and useful citizens during her 
two centuries of existence, but she has had none as illustrious as 
Roger Sherman. We have with us to-day one of his descend- 
ants, Simeon E. Baldwin, LL. D., Ex-President of the American 
Bar Association, Ex-President of the American Historical So- 
ciety, Ex-President of the International Law Association, and 
Chief Justice of Connecticut, who will now address you. 

Chief Justice Baldwin then delivered the following address 
on " Roger Sherman " : 

" The rarest and most ill-defined class of human beings is 
that of great men. Only those belong to it who have done a 
great work in a great way. The ' mute, inglorious Milton ' 
is not to be reckoned among them. They number none, how- 
ever great their natural gifts or acquired attainments, who 
have not made for themselves, by their own merits, a place 
in the history of their times. It is from their lives, indeed, that 
history gains its color and its inspiration. 

"It was the good fortune of New Milford to be the home 
of such a man in the middle of her first century of existence. 

" It was a hundred and sixty-four years ago, this very month 
that a tall and well-set young fellow of two and twenty ended 
in this town a toilsome journey, taken on foot from the neigh- 
borhood of Boston. He had come to make New Milford his 
home, bringing on his back the tools of his trade — that of a 
shoemaker— and with their aid he here gained for a year or 
two an honest livelihood. 

" A shoemaker and the son of a shoemaker, he had, and felt 
he had, capabilities for a larger work. His mind was already 




HONORABLE SIMEON E. BALDWIN 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut 



The Historical Meeting 233 

set on that of a surveyor. For this, too, he fitted himself 
well ; but there was that before him of which he did not think. 
He was to fill a long succession of official trusts, affecting all 
the Colonics and the States which succeeded them, to ho bestowed 
upon him at a time of great events, and to be so well discharged 
as to make him one of the great figures of American history. 

" When Connecticut, a few years ago, was called upon by 
the nation to choose the two of her sons whose statues should 
be set in the Capitol at Washington, there could be no question 
as to one. The land of steady habits must, at all events, be 
represented in that place by Jonathan Trumbull, the War 
Governor of the Revolution,— the Brother Jonathan who typi- 
fied to the nation the rugged virtues and hard good sense of the 
New England character. 

" The other statue also must belong to the same great era, 
the era which began with the struggle for independence, and 
closed with the attainment of settled constitutional govern- 
ment. Our heroes must be taken from that which above all 
others was our heroic age. Should we thus commemorate the 
impetuous gallantry of Putnam, the noble death of Hale, the 
courtly eloquence of Johnson, the judicial power of Ellsworth .? 
All these were sons of Connecticut, bom upon her soil. No. 
She chose one bom and bred to manhood in another State ; 
not trained at her college, nor at her schools ; not at 
any schools. She sought to put the form and features of 
Roger Sherman into marble, to show to all time what qualities 
and achievements the people of Connecticut hold in most honor. 
This man, without eloquence, with no advantages of education, 
with no grace of manner, was her choice — taken from many, 
for solid qualities, not shining ones ; for a life-long love of 
liberty, but only as it was regulated by law ; for steadfast 
devotion to duty ; for practical sagacity ; for calm, and sound 
judgment in things both small and great. Such a character 
wears well. It is men of this stamp that have made Connecti- 
cut what she is. 

" Roger Sherman was born to a great opportunity. So 
was every child bom in the American colonies during the years 



234 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

between 1720 and 1760. Those colonies were then assuming 
proportions inconsistent with the long maintenance of British 
dominion over a territory so distant and a people so enterpris- 
ing and intelligent. The day was soon to come when they 
would strike for liberty. Who were to be the leaders, then? 

" Massachusetts was to furnish her full share, and two of 
them grew up, in neighboring towns, to begin life as appren- 
tices and end it as statesmen. 

" Franklin was already at work in a Boston printing office, 
when Sherman, in 1721, was born in Newton. Neither had 
dny advantages of education. Franklin's schooling ended when 
he was about ten, and Sherman was apprenticed to a shoe- 
maker and began to learn his trade at an age not much greater. 
He had hardly acquired it when his father, then living at 
Stoughton, Massachusetts, died, and he found, at the age of 
nineteen, that the main charge of a numerous family of younger 
brothers and sisters, as well as of his mother, must thence- 
forward rest upon his shoulders. Three years of struggle upon 
the small farm, which his father left, satisfied him that to sup- 
port this load he must seek some more remunerative employment. 

" An elder brother had previously removed to this town, 
then a frontier settlement. Connecticut was the West of that 
day to the towns of eastern Massachusetts. It was the place 
for more than century where many of the most active and 
enterprising sons of the older colony had gone to found new 
homes and breathe a freer air. Connecticut, it will be recol- 
lected, had preserved her charter and elected her own govern- 
ors. Massachusetts, for half a century, had received hers 
from the crown. 

" Sherman resolved to join his brother, and the whole family 
were united in New Milford in 1743. From the early years of 
his apprenticeship he had been in the habit, as he bent over 
his last, of keeping a book open on his bench, to the study of 
which he gave what moments he could occasionally snatch from 
his work. In this way, and in his liours of leisure, he had been 
able to pick up the elements of a good English education, and 
to make considerable attainments in mathematics and plane 



The Historical Meeting 235 

geometry. One object of his removal to Connecticut had been 
to put this knowledge to practical use by engaging in the 
business of a surveyor. 

" Those were days when the quick division of land, from the 
great blocks included in colonial patents granted for the forma- 
tion of a new township, into numerous small farms, called far 
more frequently than now for the services of men who could 
run a line with precision and describe it in the proper terms 
of art. Within two years from his arrival at New Milford, 
he had fitted himself to engage in this business, and received 
from the General Assembly the appointment of a Surveyor of 
Lands for the County of New Haven ; for New Milford was 
then a part of that county, Litchfield County not having been 
created until 1751. 

" This office of County Surveyor was a responsible one. 
Whoever held it took an oath, prescribed by statute, to dis- 
charge its duties ' without Favour or Respect to Persons,' 
and, if he had occasion to employ chainmen for his assistance, 
was to administer to each of them an oath, adjuring them 
' by the ever living God ' to keep and render a true account 
of whatever lines and measures they might take.* 

" That there is an ever living God, who is the supreme au- 
thority on earth as in heaven, has always been the faith of Con- 
necticut, and shines through all her statute books. From 
1640 down to the present hour it has been part of the solemn 
ceremonial — solemn to those who stop to think of what it is 
and what it means — of admission to the privileges of a free- 
man or elector, that every man shall with uplifted hand swear 
that with God's help, whenever he shall be called to give his 
vote, he will give it as he shall judge will conduce to the best 
good of the commonwealth, without respect of persons or 
favor of any man. How many of us, on each election day, be- 
think ourselves of the high obligation to which we have thus 
pledged ourselves, and ask the help we have invoked to act 
our part as voters ' without respect of persons or favor of 
any man ' ? 

" I doubt if Roger Sherman, as a County Surveyor, needed 
* Conn. Stat., Revision of 1715, pp. 110, 234. 



236 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

the weight of an official oath to bind him to his duty, but I 
doubt not that his sense of duty was bottomed on a sense of 
God, and that honesty and Christianity were to him, from 
boyhood on, one and inseparable. 

" He had joined the Stoughton church a few weeks before 
he came of age. It was a time, in the year 1742, in which were 
gathered in the fruits of religious awakening in New England. 
Our churches had lapsed into formalism ; and dogmatic belief 
had been accorded a prominence which threw Christian conduct 
into the background. Seventeen hundred forty-two was a 
marked year in the course of the returning tide towards better 
things. 

" In 1749 Sherman used his mathematical attainments for 
a new purpose. He prepared an almanac for 1750, which was 
published in New \''ork, and was the first of a series which he 
put out during a considerable period of years. 

" By this time he had saved some money, and, in 1750, we 
find him putting part of his capital, in partnership with his 
elder brother, into a country store. This was a business in 
which he was interested first at New Milford, and then at New 
Haven, with a branch at Wallingford, for more than twenty 
years. 

" The country store then, as now in the more thinly settled 
communities, was in miniature the department store of our 
modern cities. There were few of them, and their customers 
came from a wide circuit of country. The trade was largely 
one of barter. The farmer's wife drove in with her cheese 
and butter, and might go back with stuff for a dress, a box 
of -needles, a new coffee-pot, a bottle of salts, a loaf of sugar, 
a quintal of codfish, and perhaps a volume of sermons. The 
store was not daily visited by drummers. The proprietor went 
himself every few months to Boston or Newport, New York 
or Philadelphia, to replenish his stock, and with every such 
journey found his mental horizon broadened, and felt better 
acquainted with the great world of men and things that lay 
beyond the limits of his own neighborhood. 

" Sherman, from the first, made the most of these glimpses 



The Historical Meeting 237 

of a larger life. If he rode down to New Haven to buy West 
India molasses, he would visit the college to ask President Clap's 
opinion about the probable course of an expected comet.* If 
he went to New York to correct the proofs of his almanac, he 
would take the opportunity to find a publisher for some pam- 
phlet he had written on the financial errors in the legislation 
of the day. 

" Sherman, by this time, had acquired the faculty, rarer, 
perhaps, then than now, of expressing his thoughts in writ- 
ing, in a fashion that was simple, clear, and straightforward. 
An artificial, overwrought, and overladen style of composition, 
if not the prevailing one, was certainly not uncommon among 
Americans during the middle of the eighteenth century. He 
wrote, as Franklin did, in the plain language of familiar con- 
versation, with no straining after effect. I do not mean that he 
wrote as well as Franklin. There was a long, long interval be- 
tween them ; but they were of the same school. Both were men 
who thought more of what they had to say than of how they 
said it ; of communicating facts or ideas, rather than of seeking 
to make them attractive by ornament. 

" Sherman's reading was of a kind that both strengthened 
and disciplined the mind. The first President Dwight, in 
summing up his character, emphasized ' his attachment to 
books of real use,' adding that he ' was, what very few men 
unacquainted with the learned languages are, accurately skilled 
in the grammar of his own language.'^ 

" It is probable, however, that in paying this tribute to 
an old friend who had passed away. President Dwight had in 
mind Sherman's style of written composition, rather than his 
ordinary manner of speech. It is seldom that one born to 
poverty and denied the common advantages of education, 
escapes a certain rusticity, to say the least, not only in his 
choice of words in conversation, but in their arrangement and 
pronunciation. 

" A franker, and I dare say juster, portrait of the man as 

he appeared in public discussions and debate is given in a scries 

* Boute'ls Life of Rojyer Sherman, 32. 
t Dwight's Travels, IV, 299. 



238 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

of rough notes of the doings of the Convention of 1787 which 
framed our national Constitution, made by one of the Southern 
delegates, William Pierce of Georgia. 

" 'Mr. Sherman,' he writes, ' exhibits the oddest shaped 
character I ever remember to have met with. He is awkward, 
un-meaning, and unaccountably strange in his manner. But 
in his train of thinking there is something regular, deep, and 
comprehensive ; yet the oddity of his address, the vulgarisms 
that accompany his public speaking, and that strange New 
England cant which runs through his public as well as his 
private speaking make everything that is connected with him 
grotesque and laughable ; — and yet he deserves infinite praise, 
—no Man has a better Heart or a clearer Head. If he cannot 
embellish he can furnish thoughts that are wise and useful. 
He is an able politician, and extremely artful in accomplishing 
any particular object; it is remarked that he seldom fails. 
I am told he sits on the Bench in Connecticut, and is very 
correct in the discharge of his Judicial functions. In the early 
part of his life he was a Shoe-maker ; but, despising the lowness 
of his condition, he turned Almanack maker, and so progressed 
upwards to a Judge. He has been several years a Member of 
Congress, and discharged the duties of his Office with honor 
and credit to himself, and advantage to the State he repre- 
sented. He is about 60.' 

" Silas Deane, his colleague in the Continental Congress, 
in a frank letter to his wife, thus paints Sherman, as he ap- 
peared at a New York dinner party: 

" ' Mr. Sherman is clever in private, but I will only say he 
is as badly calculated to appear in such a Company as a 
chestnut-burr is for an eye-stone. He occasioned some shrewd 
countenances among the company, and not a few oaths, by the 
odd questions he asked, and the very odd and countrified 
cadence with which he speaks ; but he was, and did, as well as 
I expected.' * 

" In the same letter Deane shows his vexation at Sherman's 
views regarding traveling on Sunday: 

" ' Mr. Sherman (would to Heaven he were well at New 
* Collections, Connecticut Historical Society, II, 145. 



The Historical Meeting 239 

Haven,) is against our sending our carriages over the ferry 
this evening, because it is Sunday ; so we shall have a scorching 
sun to drive forty miles in, to-morrow. I wish I could send 
you his picture, and make it speak, and in the background 
paint the observations made on him here. But enough of this 
at present. I will have him drawn in Philadelphia, if it can 
be done at any reasonable rate.' * 

'' To judge these criticisms fairly we must remember that 
Deane was a man of fashion and of the world, while Sherman 
was neither. A plain country lad, a hardworking journeyman 
at his trade, a busy surveyor, a sagacious selectman, a shrewd 
store-keeper, a hard-headed lawyer, an industrious judge, he 
had qualities not of a kind that shine in polite society, but of a 
kind nevertheless that count in life, in every position which 
a man may be called to fill. He would have made a better figure 
with better manners. But a rusticity that would have ruined 
the advance of most men was everywhere tolerated in Sherman, 
Decause there was felt everywhere an admiration for his mind 
and heart, — his solid sense, wise forecast, and practical wisdom. 

" While living in this town, Sherman was asked one day by 
a neighbor, the next time he went to the county seat, to retain 
counsel for him to bring a petition to court in a matter con- 
nected with the settlement of an estate. He noted down the 
facts which he thought it would be necessary to state in the 
papers prepared for such a proceeding, and the lawyer whom 
he consulted was so much impressed with the clearness and pre- 
cision of the memorandum that he strongly advised him to 
adopt the legal profession. 

" There were then no American, and, indeed, no English law 
schools. An education for the bar was commonly gained by 
studying the works of some of the English judges of former 
generations, under the advice of a local practitioner, but with 
little other assistance from him. The system of justice ad- 
ministered in Connecticut was rough and unhewn, and not a 
few of the judges of the highest courts had never followed the 
profession of the law. 

" Sherman began to read law, in consequence of the inci- 
* Collections, Connecticut Historical Society, II, 146. 



240 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

dent to which I have alluded, when he was about thirty years 
of age, and was admitted to the bar in Litchfield County in 
1754. There were then few lawyers in the colony who gained 
the whole of their livelihood from their profession. Many 
were also farmers. Sherman retained his interest in the New 
Milford store. 

" Meanwhile he had been sent to the General Assembly, and 
made first a justice of the peace, and then a side judge of the 
County Court. 

" The record of one of the early justice suits tried before 
him well illustrates the difference in political ideas between 
those times and ours. It shows the conviction and fine of one 
of his fellow-townsmen for a violation of the Colony statute 
in not attending public worship in any congregation allowed 
by law on January 29, 1758, nor on any Sunday in the month 
next preceding. 

" ' Squire ' Sherman, as he was now called, brought to his 
new profession the strong common sense and good business 
judgment which had served to advance him in his previous 
employments, and which, if added to sound learning, will al- 
ways assure success at the bar. 

" The late President Porter, who, in early life, was settled 
as a minister at New Milford, once told me of a story which 
he heard here of some wise words uttered by Sherman at this 
period in his history. ' Squire Sherman,' said one of his 
neighbors to him, one day, ' tell me, are most controversies 
that come before Judges in lawsuits decided justly or unjustly.'' ' 
' Sir,' was the reply, ' it's not the point whether they are de- 
cided justly or unjustly: they are decided, and made an end 
of.' And in truth it is perhaps the best office of courts of 
justice that, however often they may err in their processes, 
they certainly bring every human controversy that Is within 
their reach to a final stop. The conclusion may be right or 
wrong; but a conclusion it is. 

" Sherman was a deacon of the New Milford Church, the 
clerk and treasurer of the society, and one of the school 
committee. At the age of forty, he removed to New Haven, 



The Historical Meeting 241 

and connected himself with the White Haven Church, one of 
the two original bodies out of which grew the United Society 
and the United Church. Here again the records show his 
faithful work on committees and as collector of the rates im- 
posed by the society. 

" Five years later he was appointed a Judge of the Superior 
Court, a position which he continued to hold for nearly a 
quarter of a century. 

" The British legislation culminating in the Stamp Act had 
now begun to arouse the spirit of independence in the Ameri- 
can colonies. Sherman was one of those who took the most 
advanced ground. He maintained that Parliament had no 
jurisdiction over them whatever. 

" Connecticut sent him as one of her delegates to the first 
Continental Congress, in 1774, and there he maintained this 
doctrine with all his power. John Adams reports him as de- 
claring upon the floor that there was no legislative power 
superior to the Colonial Assemblies, and that Americans had 
adopted the common law of England, not as the common law, 
but as the highest reason. 

" It was his thorough-going republicanism, indeed, which 
had carried him into public life, and put him in a leading place 
among the legislators of his State. He had been first elected 
to the Governor's Council or upper house of the General As- 
sembly in 1766. The Stamp Act had brought the ' Sons of 
Liberty ' into existence. They had forced, under threat of 
death, Jared Ingersoll, who, under the advice of Franklin had 
accepted the position of stampmaster for Connecticut, to re- 
sign the office. Governor Fitch, though with reluctance, had 
taken the official oath which the obnoxious Act required. It 
cost him his place, William Pitkin being elected his successor 
a year later. With him went out of office four of his Council 
who sympathized with his deference to parliamentary author- 
ity ; dropped by the people to make room for others who 
were regarded as more fully Americans in spirit and doctrine. 

" No one was then eligible for a scat on the Council-board 
who had not been officially nominated in the previous year. 



242 The Bi-Centennial, Exercises 

Twenty nominations were annually made for the twelve places, 
and the election was so managed that the twelve in office always 
headed the list and were voted on first. A majority was not 
required for an election. To be once nominated for the upper 
house was in this way a substantial assurance of an ultimate 
election, and to be once elected was a substantial assurance of 
an annual re-election for life. 

" Sherman, in 1766, had been on the waiting list for five years. 
A political whirlwind, unexampled in our Colonial annals, then 
made five vacancies, and death a sixth. He went in with five 
other new men, and remained a member until after the close 
of the Revolution. 

" Religion in those days, so far as form at least was con- 
cerned, was a part of politics. There was a religious estab- 
lishment in Connecticut. It put the church beside the school- 
house on the village green. It made Church and State largely 
one. 

" Sherman was not wiser than his generation in regard to 
matters of religion. His reading had been mainly in English 
history and law; but the subject next most interesting to him 
was theology. He accepted Calvinism. He believed in the 
Puritans. He distrusted and feared the Church of England. 
It was the day when so tolerant and fair-minded a man as 
President Stiles could record as among the fourteen trials and 
difficulties of this life : ' Concern for the Congregational 
churches, & prevalence of Episcopacy & Wickedness.' * 

" When, therefore, about the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, the Episcopalians, who were especially strong in Connecti- 
cut, began to push for the appointment of one or more Ameri- 
can bishops, it is not surprising that Sherman's voice was 
raised in opposition. 

" A long letter on this subject, written in 1768, which, it is 
believed, came from his pen, is among the files of the New 
Haven East Association, to which his church belonged. In 
this it is urged that if Parliament provides for American 
bishops, they might bring here all the functions and authority 

*Stiles, Literary Diary, I, 16, July 8, 1769. 



The Historical Meeting 

of those of England, and hold ecclesiastical courts like those 
of Laud, from which our fathers fled into the wilderness. 

" There was this piece of solid ground under Sherman's 
argument. Grant the power of Parliament to establish an 
American episcopate, and a new point was made in favor of 
the general right of Parliament to legislate as to all American 
affairs. This consideration, no doubt, greatly influenced his 
course; and it was sufficient to defeat the consecration of any 
bishop for America until that of Dr. Seabury, which followed 
closely after the Revolution. 

" The Wyoming controversy between Connecticut and Penn- 
sylvania was one in which Sherman took an active part. 

" Our charter bounded us ' on the North by the line of the 
Massachusetts Plantation ; and on the South by the Sea ; and 
in Longitude as the Line of the Massachusetts Colony, running 
from East to West, That is to say. From the said Narragan- 
sett Bay on the East to the South Sea on the West part, with 
the Islands thereto Adjoining.' This gave us a paper title to 
a swath of North America sixty miles wide, at least, running 
from Rhode Island to the Pacific, and taking in what are now 
the sites of Wilkesbarre, Cleveland, Chicago, and Omaha. 
Our people, as early as 1762, began to make settlements in 
that part of it in western Pennsylvania known as the Wyom- 
ing Valley. The General Assembly made it a county in 1776, 
styling it Westmoreland County, and it furnished the Twenty- 
fourth Connecticut Regiment in the Continental Army. 

" Sherman was one of a committee appointed by the legisla- 
ture in 1774 to report upon measures to support tlic title 
of the Wyoming settlers, which Pennsylvania now disputed, 
under a later and conflicting grant from the Crown. Ener- 
getic measures were recommended and adopted, and, knowing 
the power of the newspapers, Sherman shortl}^ afterwards 
followed up the report by a clear and full statement of the 
position of Connecticut, in a letter to the Connecticut Journal 
of New Haven. Public sentiment, here, was much divided. 
There were many who thought that such an ' expansion ' 
threatened the safety of our liberties. Sherman proposed that 



244 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

the colony should secure a determination of its bounds from 
the King in Council. Such a law suit, said those who were 
for letting Wyoming go, would be slow and costly ; and, even 
if we should win it, what then? A defeat, Mr. Ingersoll had 
declared in another newspaper article, ' would be very detri- 
mental, but a victory must be absolute ruin.' ' But,' replied 
Sherman, ' he gives no reason for his opinion. And can his 
bare assertion make the people of this colony, who are a com- 
pany of farmers, believe that to be quieted in their claim to a 
large tract of valuable land would ruin them.'' ' 

" The Revolution transferred the judicial decision of this 
controversy from the King in Council to the Congress of the 
United States. A Court of Commissioners was organized to 
try the issue, and, in 1782, judgment was rendered against us. 

" The Commissioners had prudently determined, before hear- 
ing the case, to give no reasons for their decision, whatever it 
might be. That they were not of the strongest may be inferred 
from the fact that four years later Congress accepted from 
Connecticut a relinquishment of the rest of her Western title, 
with an express reservation of a large strip of northern Ohio. 
This is still known as the Western Reserve. We soon sold it, 
and the proceeds constituted our State School fund of 
$2,000,000. 

" The services rendered by Sherman to the United States 
outshine those which he rendered to Conncticut; but it is only 
because the field was larger, and the circumstances more 
striking. 

" Three are commemorated upon a mural tablet erected to 
his memory in the church of which he was a member in New 
Haven. This states that he was ' one of the committee which 
drew the Declaration of Independence, of that which reported 
the Articles of Confederation, of the Convention that framed 
the national Constitution, and a Signer of these three Char- 
ters of American liberty.' 

*' To no other man came the good fortune to set his hand 
to these three great State papers. One marked the birth of 
the nation. The next was its first attempt to agree on a 



The Historical Meeting 245 

constitution of government — a necessary coniproniise, and tem- 
porary as compromises always are. The last was what has 
made the United States the greatest, richest, freest country 
that the sun shines upon to-day ; and it was in that, that the 
work of Sherman told most. 

" He was among the leading members of the Convention 
from whose hands it came. Connecticut was wise enough to 
send to it her strongest men. Our delegates were William 
Samuel Johnson, Oliver Ellsworth, and Roger Sherman. 

" Johnson was the representative in his generation of the 
family in the State most distinguished for public services and 
personal attainments. He had ably represented our interests 
abroad, in important matters, and twenty years before had re- 
ceived the degree of Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford Uni- 
versity. The Convention made him head of the committee to 
put the measures which it adopted in proper form and style. 
Oliver Ellsworth, who had been the foremost lawyer at our 
bar, was then an associate of Sherman on the bench of the 
Supreme Court, and was soon to be Chief Justice of the United 
States. But Sherman had a truer sense than either of his 
colleagues of what must be the nature and soul of the new 
government. He felt that it must stand upon a double founda- 
tion, that of the States, acting each for itself, and that of the 
people of all the States, acting for all together.* 

" He felt, too, that it must stand for human liberty. 

" Our State was then a slave-holding State, but he was one 
of those who were determined that the word slave should not 
stain the pages of the Constitution of the United States. Later, 
when he was a member of the first Congress, one of the repre- 
sentatives from Virginia (for Virginia statesmen were then look- 
ing to the gradual abolition of slavery) proposed to put into 
the tariff act a duty of ten dollars on each slave imported. 
Sherman opposed it. He could not, he said, reconcile himself 
to the insertion of human beings as an article of duty, among 
goods, wares, and merchandise; and, when it was replied that 
the doctrine of the Declaration of Independence required the 
endeavor to wipe off the stigma of slavery from the American 
* Elliot's Debates, 178. 



246 The Bi-Centenniai> Exercises 

government, his reply was that the principles of the motion 
and the principles of the bill were inconsistent: the principle 
of the bill was to raise revenue, and the principle of the motion 
was to correct a moral evil. These few and well put words 
illustrate that strong sense of proportion and relation which 
gave Sherman such weight in every deliberative assembly. 

" In the Convention which framed the Constitution, he was 
the author of the compromise by which, in Congress, the Sen- 
ate represents the States and the House, the people. 

" Afterwards, when Congress was engaged in formulating 
the first ten amendments of the Constitution, which serve as a 
bill of rights for the people and for the States, it was he who 
gave the final shape to the last and most important. 

" This (originally the Twelfth, for Congress proposed 
twelve of which ten only were ratified by the States), as re- 
ported by the committee, read thus : ' The powers not dele- 
gated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited 
by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively.' 
Sherman moved, and the House voted to add the words, ' or 
to the people.' 

" He knew, as a lawyer, that when anything is reserved in 
a grant it is reserved by and for the maker of the grant. 
Who made this grant.'' From what authority did the Consti- 
tution proceed? Was it from the States, and were the powers 
reserved to be reserved to them and each of them.'' This was 
said, or implied, in the original draft of the amendment. Sher- 
man's addition recognized the principle, afterwards affirmed 
by Chief Justice Marshall, that the people also had a share 
in ordaining this Constitution for themselves and their 
posterity. 

" It is also worthy of remark, that he was careful to follow 
the phrase used in the preceding amendment (the Ninth) in 
which it is declared that the enumeration in the Constitution 
of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
others retained by the people. What people is thus meant? 
Is it the people of each State, regarded state-wise, or the 
whole people of the United States regarded nation-wise? That 



The Historical Meeting 247 

was a question on which public opinion had been divided, and 
which it remained for the Civil War to settle by force of arms. 

" Sherman did not seek to precipitate this issue. The fram- 
ers of the Constitution of the Southern Confederacy met the 
same question and decided it. By the article of that document 
(the Sixth) which corresponds to the Tenth Amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States, the powers not delegated to 
the Confederate States were ' reserved to the States respec- 
tively, or to the people thereof.' * Here is the doctrine of 
States Rights, clear and unmistakable. It is not improbable 
that Sherman would have preferred the use of similar language 
by the First Congress, in drafting the Tenth Amendment. The 
interest of his State lay or seemed to lie in that direction. 
But he had been willing, as a political necessity, to build the 
Constitution on pillars of compromise, and this was one of 
them. He was content to use words of comprehension, which 
the adherents of each school of American politics could read 
in their own sense, and to leave it to another generation to 
determine which should prevail. 

" Another service of importance rendered by Sherman in 
the First Congress was to bring the cent into actual use in 
the financial system of the United States. 

" The revenue measure for the collection by the United 
States of customs duties on imported goods, which Congress 
had urged upon the States in 1783 as an amendment to the 
Articles of Confederation, had stated the proposed duties in 
dollars and ninetieths of a dollar. Thus, on rum of Jamaica 
proof, the rate fixed was four ninetieths of a dollar, and upon 
all other spirituous liquors three ninetieths. + This mode of 
reckoning fractions of a dollar continued to be that pursued 
in government accounts down to the close of the Confedera- 
tion.J In 1786, Congress had, indeed, provided for the coin- 
age of both cents and half-cents.^ The next year a contract 
was made with James Jarvis of New Haven to strike off three 

* Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, I, 672. 
t Journ. of Congress, XIII, 155. 
:|:M, XIII, 122, 161, 162, 165. 
%Id., XII, 179, 180, 252. 



248 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

hundred tons of these coins.* This contract was fulfilled at 
least in part, and many of the cents struck under it are to be 
found in the cabinets of collectors. They bear the legend 
Fugio, and the date 1787. The work was done at New Haven ; 
Connecticut being then the great copper-producing State. 

" It is probable, however, that these New Haven cents had 
a very limited circulation. Hildreth says that but a few tons 
were issued, and it is certain that in New York the old plan of 
reckoning by ninetieths of dollars remained in use for several 
years more. 

" In 1789 Madison reported a tariff bill to the First Con- 
gress under our present Constitution. The rates of duty 
were left blank. Sherman, who had been chairman of a com- 
mittee appointed by the General Assembly of Connecticut to 
supervise the coinage of copper coins under State authority, t 
took an early opportunity to propose that in filling the blanks 
that Madison had left, they should begin with rum, and tax 
it fifteen cents a gallon. He preferred, he said, to use the 
term cent, for its convenience, as ten made a dime, and ten 
dimes, a dollar. ;J: This explanation was evidently necessary to 
make the House understand what a cent was. They approved 
his suggestion, and the bill when passed stated all duties in 
dollars and cents. It was thus that the Inconvenient and sense- 
less division of the dollar into ninetieths never afterwards 
obtained recognition on the statute books of the United States, 

" At the close of the Revolution Connecticut found herself 
a tributary State to her neighbors on each side. Her citizens 
were buying heavily from New York, Newport, and Boston 
importers, and thus paying duties for the benefit of New York, 
Rhode Island, and INIassachusetts. Connecticut consumed, ac- 
cording to an estimate by Chief Justice Ellsworth, as late 
as 1787, about a third of all the goods entered at the New 
York custom house, and paid in that way for New York cus- 
toms something like twenty thousand pounds a yearH — a vast 
sum for those early days. 

* Journal of Congress, XII, 54. 

t Papers of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, I, 177. 

+ Annals of Congress, I, 125. f Elliot's Debates, II, 189. 



The Historical Meeting 249 

" It was thought that if New Haven were made a free port, 
and special encouragement offered to merchants to settle there 
in business, we might be able to import what we wanted for 
Ourselves. 

" Our first city charter was thereupon issued, and New 
Haven became a city in 1784?, with all the privileges of a free 
port for seven years. Her city seal devised by President 
Stiles still bears the legend, Mare liberuni. 

" Roger Sherman was elected its first mayor. The charter 
made the term of office during good behavior, and he remained 
the mayor until his death. 

" Sherman was fond of studying problems of controversial 
theology. The first President Dwight, in summing up his 
character, described him as a ' profound logician, statesman, 
lawyer, and theologian.' * 

" Religion is the philosophy of life, and theology is, or 
ought to be, the philosophy of religion. No thoughtful man 
can avoid occasional reflection on these high themes. It is 
our good fortune to study them in the light of sciences un- 
known to him. Put any doctrinal discussion of the eighteenth 
century by the side of those of our day, directed and controlled 
as ours must be by the truths of biology, the discoveries of 
archaeologists, and the principles of evolution, and the older 
statements seem unreal and unsubstantial. 

" Sherman's thought, however, in theology, as in everything 
else, was clear and plain. In 1789, he published, in New Haven, 
a sermon of his own composition. A year later he exchanged 
several long letters with Rev. Dr. Samuel Hopkins of New- 
port, in which he attacked that divine's peculiar doctrine that 
a man ought to be willing to suffer eternal damnation, if need 
be, for the glory of God. Calvin was quoted as an authority 
for this, by the advocates of ' Hopkinsianism.' ' Calvinists,' 
replied Sherman, ' do not found their faith on the authority 
of his opinions : that would be to entertain an opinion contrary 
to his, viz., that the word of God is the only rule of faith in 
matters of religion.' 

" In 1765 Sherman accepted the position of Treasurer of 
♦ Travels, IV, 299. 



250 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Yale College, filling it until 1776, when the cause of American 
independence demanded all his energies. He came to this 
office during the last years of President Clap's administration, 
and held it through most of the long interregnum during 
which Professor Daggett was acting President. It was, as 
I have said, a dark time for the College ; a day of small things. 
Daggett and Sherman were for some years the only perma- 
nent officers. The means of the institution were slender, and 
the utmost economy was necessary to secure its maintenance. 
Sherman's prudence and business judgment were here of sub- 
stantial service, though the struggle of the College then was 
more to live than to grow. 

" He was also in a position to befriend it, where it then 
much needed support, before the Legislature. There was a 
long and strong effort during the last half of the eighteenth 
century to bring it under State control. Here, writes Presi- 
dent Stiles in his Literary Diary, he was ' ever a friend to its 
interests, and to its being and continuing in the hands of the 
clergy, whom he judged the most proper to have the super- 
intendency of a religious, as well as a scientific, college.' * 

" In 1792, while he was a Senator in Congress (to which 
position he had been elected the year before), that controversy 
came to a peaceful close. The General Assembly offered the 
College a grant of what was estimated to be worth about 
thirty thousand dollars, provided it would admit the Governor 
and Lieutenant Governor and the six senior assistants as, for 
all time. Fellows of the Corporation. This left the clergy 
still in full control, for they held twelve seats, and could dictate 
the election of the President to occupy another. Neverthe- 
less, the clerical Fellows were divided in opinion, as to the 
policy of agreeing to this friendly overture. One of them, 
Rev. Nathaniel Taylor of this town, was especially reluctant 
to take this step. He consulted Sherman, whose pastor he had 
formerly been, and by his advice yielded to the rest, and so 
made the vote of acceptance an unanimous one.f 

" This was almost Sherman's last service to Yale. In the 

* Lit. Diary,! 11,500. 
t Stile's Diary, III, 460. 



The Historical Meeting 261 

next year, under date of July 23, in Stiles' Diary, we find this 
entry : 

" 'About VIP, or about sunsetting, a bright Luminary set 
in New Haven: the Hon. Roger Sherman, Esqr. died aet. 72^, 
mayor of the city & Senator in Congress.' * 

" He died at his residence on Chapel Street, which is still 
standing opposite Vanderbilt Hall, and, on July 25, his funeral 
was attended from the North (now the United) Church. Presi- 
dent Stiles was one of the officiating clergyman, and the stu- 
dents and tutors of the college headed the procession to the 
grave.t His pastor, the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Edwards, preached 
the funeral sermon. Edwards was a metaphysical theologian. 
One of the audience wrote of this sermon, a few days later, to 
a friend in a neighboring town: 'To do the Doctor justice 
he preached better than I expected to hear him, and seemed 
to keep almost free from moral obligation, cause and effect, 
etc'l 

" The discourse is in print, and a few of the personal touches 
in it may give a clearer idea of how Sherman appeared to his 
friends and fellow-townsmen at home. 

" ' I need not inform you,' said Dr. Edwards, ' that his 
person was tall, unusually erect and well proportioned, and 
his countenance agreeable and manly. . . . As he was a 
professor of religion, so he was not ashamed to befriend it, to 
appear openly on the Lord's side, or to avow and defend the 
peculiar doctrines of grace. . . . Li private life, though 
he was naturally reserved and of few words, yet in conversa- 
tion on matters of importance, he was free and communicative-' 

" The theology of the day appeared in the concluding ob- 
servations, in which the preacher referred to the loss they had 
sustained by this bereavement as a token of ' divine dis- 
pleasure.' 

" President Stiles, during the same week, records his estimate 
of Sherman in these terms: 

" ' He was formed for Think^ & Acting, but Law & Politics 
were peculiarly adapted to his Genius. He Avas an admirer 

* Lit. Diary, III, 499. f I^'ifJ-, 500. ij; BoiiteU: Life, 283. 



252 The Bi-Centenkial Exercises 

of Vattells Laws of Nature & Nations. . . . He was 
exemplary for Piety & serious Religion, was a good Divine ; 
once printed a well & judiciously written Sermon of his own 
Composition, tho' never preached. He was far from all En- 
thusiasm. He was calm sedate & ever discerning & judicious. 
He went thro' all the Grades of public Life, & grew in them 
all & filled every Office with Propriety, Ability, & tho' not with 
showy Brilliancy, yet with that Dignity which arises from 
doing every Thing perfectly right. In no part of his Em- 
ployments has he displayed his intrinsic Merit and acquired 
that Glory, so much as in Congress. He there became almost 
oracular for the. deep Sagacity, Wisdom & Weight of his 
Counsels. Tho' of no Elocution, he was respected & listened 
to with great Attention; and was successful in carrying the 
Points he laboured. He was an extraord^ Man — a venerable 
uncorrupted Patriot ! ' * 

" Many years later Sherman's character was thus sketched 
by the discriminating hand of Professor James L. Kingsley : 

" ' No man in Connecticut ever enjoyed the confidence of 
the people of the State more entirely, or for a longer period, 
than Roger Sherman. Where he doubted, who ventured to be 
positive.'' Where he saw his way clear, who hesitated to follow.'' 
In the whole course of his public life Roger Sherman never 
failed to leave in those with whom he had intercourse an im- 
pression of deep sagacity, and stern integrity ; and he be- 
queathed, as a public man, to those who should come after 
him, the character of a great, and what is much more rare, of 
an honest, politician.' f 

" Sherman's English ancestors were of the yeoman class. He 
was born in the ranks of what, for want of a better name, is 
called the ' common people.' He knew their virtues, but he 
knew their failings, too. It may fairly be said that, when 
he came to be entrusted with high public station, the people 
had more confidence in Sherman than Sherman had in them. 

" This, no doubt, was an esoteric doctrine to be wisely kept 
* Literary Diary, III, 500. t Historical Discourse, 1838, 69. 



The Historical Meeting 253 

for those who had ears to hear. He stated it without reserve 
in the Convention which framed the Constitution of the United 
States. Governor Randolph of ^'irginia had proposed — what 
is now urged by many as a needed constitutional change — that 
the senators from each State should be elected by popular 
vote. Sherman opposed it, ' insisting,' as Mr. Madison re- 
ports him, ' that it ought to be by the State legislatures. The 
people, he said, immediately, should have as little to do as may 
be about the government. They want information, and are 
constantly liable to be misled.'* 

" His views prevailed, and, if we may judge from the ex- 
perience thus far of his own State, he was probably right in 
beheving that it was safer to confide in the wisdom of the Gen- 
eral Assembly than in a popular vote. He was speaking as 
the representative of one of the smaller States, of territorial 
limits such as to make it reasonably certain that every leading 
man among her citizens would be known to most of the leading 
members of her Legislature. The inhabitants of our towns, 
again, are quite generally personally acquainted with those 
whom they send to represent them at Hartford; and if these 
men betray their trust, they are called to a prompt account 
at home, before the bar of public opinion. 

" It is to be remembered, of course, that Sherman's unwilling- 
ness to trust the people with the election of a Senator by a 
direct vote was not inconsistent with his confidence in their 
judgment on general questions of public policy or moral right. 
That confidence he always maintained. 

" Sherman was an effective speaker, but it was not because 
he had in him anything of an orator. f His power in debate lay 
in his habit of never taking the floor unless he had something 
new and important to suggest, ij and in stopping as soon as 
he had said it. It lay also in what Cicero said was the first 
qualification of the successful orator — being a good man. Peo- 
ple believed him, because they believed in him. 

" Justice Avas his polar star. He believed that it was the 
true mainspring of all political action on the part of the mass 

* V Elliot's Debates, 135. 1 3 Am. Hist. Review, 326. 

^Sanderson's Lives of the Signers, III, 297. 



254) The Bi-Centennial, Exercises 

of the people. ' Popular opinion,' he said on the floor of the 
First Congress, ' is founded in justice, and the only way to 
know if the popular opinion is in favor of a measure is to 
examine whether it is just and right in itself.' 

" ' The popularity that follows, not that which is run after,' 
was what he thought should be the wish of the legislator. 

" So lived, and so, in a green old age, still in high public 
station and still useful in it, passed away the man to whose 
commemoration this hour has been devoted. 

" The Church no longer thinks a peaceful end of a well- 
spent life is to be taken as a token of the divine displeasure. 
It no longer discusses the theological opinions that were of 
such absorbing interest in Sherman's age. He belonged to 
the eighteenth and we are drinking in the inspiration of the 
twentieth century. 

" But Sherman's religion is still our religion. He stood for 
justice, and truth: he stood for duty, quietly, daily, untir- 
ingly done, in whatever station, high or low, God may see fit 
to place us. He was a good shoemaker, and he was a good 
Senator. 

" His example will never die out of American memory, be- 
cause it appeals to every man in every walk of life, and shows 
how character, perseverance, industry, joined to common sense, 
under our system of government, put within the reach of their 
possessor whatever the times may have to give of opportunity 
for doing public service and winning public esteem. 

" There are five names in the history of the United States 
that seem to me to stand alone. In the view of most Americans, 
I think, Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, John Adams, and 
Hamilton were above all others the founders of the Republic. 

" In his ' Studies in History and Jurisprudence,'* James 
Bryce marshals in order the leaders in American affairs at the 
time of the adoption of our Constitution. Five, he says, be- 
long to the history of the world : Washington, Franklin, Ham- 
ilton, Jefferson, and Marshall ; ' and in the second rank are 
to be named John Adams, Madison, Jay, Patrick Henry, 

* P. 306. 




y ix. 







? -z ^ 



«■«■ 



The Histoeical Meeting 256 

Gouverneur Morris, Roger Sherman, James Wilson, and Albert 
Gallatin.' 

" John Marshall seems to me not so much a founder as a re- 
founder of the Constitution, and I should be unwilling to agree 
with Mr. Bryce in giving him a place which appears with 
greater right to belong to the successor of Washington in the 
presidential chair. So, in arranging the statesmen of the 
second order, it may be doubted if Gallatin does not more 
properly belong to a later generation. But that in that class 
is Roger Sherman, rather than Trumbull, rather than Ells- 
worth, rather than Johnson, rather than any other son of 
Connecticut, or, after Jolin Adams, of New England, few will 
question who have closely studied the Journals of the Con- 
tinental Congress, and the debates in the Convention of 1787, 
out of which our Constitution sprang." 

The last speaker, Hon. Daniel Davenport of Bridgeport, 
was introduced as a descendant of John Davenport, the leader 
of the first group of colonists to settle the New Haven Colony, 
and the first pastor of the first church in New Haven. Mr. 
Davenport spoke as follows : 

" The settlement of New Milford began in 1707, exactly a 
century after that of Jamestown, Va. At that time, although 
Milford and Stratford at the mouth of the Housatonic had 
been settled almost seventy years, and the river afforded a 
convenient highway into the interior, for much of the distance, 
this place, only thirty miles from the north shore of Long 
Island Sound, was still beyond the extreme northwestern fron- 
tier of New England, and indeed of English North America. 

" The inhabitants of Connecticut then numbered about fif- 
teen thousand, settled in thirty towns, mostly along the shore 
of Long Island Sound, and upon the banks of the Connecticut 
and Thames rivers. During the thirty years next before, a 
few families from Norwalk had settled at Danbury, from Strat- 
ford at Woodbury, from Milford at Derby, and from Farming- 
ton at Waterbury. With these exceptions, hardly more than 
pin points upon the map, and a few settlements about Albany, 
N. Y., the whole of western and northwestern Connecticut and 



S56 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

of western Massachusetts and northern New York was a sav- 
age wilderness, covered with dense forests, and affording al- 
most perfect concealment for the operations of savage warfare. 

" Though the northwestern portion of Connecticut was then 
a most formidable and inhospitable wilderness, strenuous ef- 
forts were already being put forth by the Colony to encourage 
its settlement. For, strange as it seems to us now, at that 
time, owing to imperfect modes of cultivation and the diffi- 
culty of subduing the wilderness, the settled portions of the 
Commonwealth had begun to feel overpopulated. Twenty-five 
years before, the Secretary of the Colony had reported to the 
Home Government, that ' in this mountainous, rocky, and 
swampy province ' most of the arable land was taken up, and 
the remainder was hardly worth tillage. 

" This need of more land, and the protection from invasion 
which the settlement of this section would afford the communi- 
ties near the coast, and the innate love of adventure and desire 
to subdue the wilderness, which have characterized the Ameri- 
can people from the beginning, were the impelling causes which 
led to the planting of New Milford. 

" So pressing did this movement become that, though what 
is now Litchfield County was then as remote and inaccessible 
to the rest of the Colony as were Indiana and Illinois to our 
fathers in the middle of the last century, within forty-five 
years after the first settler had built his log cabin and lighted 
his fire here twelve towns had been settled and the county 
organized with a population of more than ten thousand. 

" In order that we may appreciate, somewhat, the broader 
political conditions under which the first settlers took up their 
abode here, which largely engrossed their thoughts and vitally 
affected them and their children for two generations, it is nec- 
essary, before taking up the narrative of their actual settle- 
ment here, to advert briefly to the state of affairs at that time 
in England, and on the continent of Europe, and in the Eng- 
lish, French, and Spanish Colonies of North America. 

" By 1707 it had become apparent to the people of Connec- 
ticut that, soon or late, they must fight for the very existence 



The Historical Meeting 257 

of their chartered privileges and natural rights, not alone the 
British Crown, but the English people. The disposition of the 
people of England to reap where they had not sown had be- 
come very clear. In April, 1701, Connecticut was named in 
the bill then introduced in Parliament to abrogate all Ameri- 
can charters. She resisted with all her might through her 
agent, but it passed the second reading, and would have become 
a law but for the breaking out of the French War. Its prin- 
ciple was supported by the mercantile interests and the great 
men of England. Then for the first time the people of Con- 
necticut fully realized that their foes were to be, not the exiled 
house of Stuart, but the English people themselves, and that, 
though they changed their dynasties, they did not change their 
own nature. 

" In 1707 the principal kingdoms of Europe and their 
colonies were ablaze with war. Anne was Queen of England. 
In that very year she attached her signature to that long pro- 
jected and most important constitutional arrangement, the 
Act of Union between England and Scotland, which made them 
one kingdom, the crown of which, by the Act of Settlement 
passed a few years before, had been forever vested in the per- 
son and heirs of Sophia, the electress of Hanover, the present 
reigning dynasty. Anne's accession to the throne in 1702 had 
been followed by the acknowledgment, by Louis XIV., of the 
son of James II., the deposed and fugitive king of England 
and the determined foe of the rights of the Colonists, as the 
rightful king, although in the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, 
he had solemnly stipulated to the contrary. This act of 
perfidy roused the English to fury. The primary cause of 
the war, then raging, was the acceptance by Louis of the crown 
of Spain for his grandson Philip despite a previous formal 
renunciation. But the immediate occasion was his espousal 
of the cause of the son of James II. as pretender to the Brit- 
ish throne, which enabled the English Government to form a 
great European alliance to wrest Spain from Philip and pre- 
vent Louis from becoming the absolute master of Europe. 

The year before, 1706, had witnessed the humbling of the 



258 The Bi-Centennial, Exercises 

pride and ambition of Louis by 'he defeat of his armies at Ram- 
illics by tlie Duke of Marlbcrough, in Piedmont by Prince 
Eugene, and in Spain by Lord Galway. Charles XII. of Swe- 
den had advanced to Dresden in Saxony, an English and Portu- 
guese army had occupied Madrid, and an attack of the com- 
bined fleets of Spain and France upon Charleston, S. C, then 
claimed by Spain as a part of Florida, had been repulsed by 
the vigor and martial skill of the Colonial authorities. 

" At that time the valley of the St. Lawrence was occupied 
by about fifty thousand French settlers, imbued with bitter hos- 
tility towards the settlers in New England and New York. 
Already the vast design of La Salle to acquire for the King of 
France the whole interior of the continent seemed to have been 
accomplished. While as yet the English were struggling to 
secure a foothold upon the Atlantic seaboard, the French had 
explored the Mississippi and its tributaries to its mouth ; and 
the whole vast region drained by them, between the Allegha- 
nies and the Rockies, had been taken possession of by the French 
under the name of Louisiana ; and a chain of military and trad- 
ing posts from New Orleans to the St. Lawrence, admirably 
chosen for the purpose, had been established to hold it; and 
another chain was already planned to extend southward along 
the west side of the Alleghanies, to forever keep out the Eng- 
lish. The French had been for fifty years hounding on the 
numerous tribes of Canada and northern New England to at- 
tack and exterminate the settlers of New England. The con- 
quest of Canada by the English was, therefore, an object of the 
greatest political importance, and necessary for the peace and 
safety of the Colonists, and their future growth, and it continued 
to engross the efforts and exhaust the means of the Colonists, 
until their purpose was finally accomplished in 1763. 

" The people who settled here were entirely familiar with the 
hardships, dangers, and horrors of Indian warfare to which 
they were liable in taking up their abode on this frontier. The 
horrible incidents which attended the massacre of the inhabi- 
tants of Schenectady, in 1690, seventeen years before, during 
the previous war, and of the inhabitants of Deerfield, Mass., and 



The Historical Meeting 259 

other places in 1704, during the war still raging, were house- 
hold words throughout Connecticut, and had left an abiding 
imprint in the minds of the people on the border. Though the 
Indians, right about them here, seem to have been few in num- 
ber and comparatively harmless, they knew from their own and 
their fathers' experiences that their position was one of ex- 
treme danger, and that at all times their scanty and hard won 
possessions and their lives were liable to instant destruction 
from unheralded irruptions by the more distant Indian tribes 
of the North and Northwest, urged on by their French instiga- 
tors and allies. For the experiences of the last seventy years, 
from the time of the Pequot War, and during the subsequent 
troubles with the tribes in southwestern Connecticut, and on 
Long Island, and during King Philip's War, had fully taught 
them the craft, treachery, and pitiless cruelty of the savages, 
as well as their capacity for extensive combination among the 
widely separated tribes. 

"When Major de Rouville, in 1704, with his band of civil- 
ized and uncivilized savages, committed the atrocities at Deer- 
field, Mass., the suspicions of the Colonists that the French had 
instigated the former Indian outrages became a certainty, for 
in this instance they openly shared in them. 

" Their object was, as I have said, to drive the English col- 
onists from North America, and substitute in their place their 
own colonial system. For this purpose they fitted out hun- 
dreds of parties of savages to proceed to other portions of the 
English settlements, shoot down the settlers when at work at 
their crops, seize their wives and children, load them with packs 
of plunder from their own homes, and drive them before them 
into the wilderness. When no longer able to stagger under 
their burdens, they were murdered, and their scalps torn off and 
exhibited to their masters, and for such trophies bounties were 
paid. The French Government in Paris paid boimties for the 
scalps of women and children, as Connecticut did for those of 
wolves, and it not only fitted out other savage expeditions, but 
sent its own soldiers to assist in the murderous work. Detailed 
reports of each case were regularly made to the Government at 



260 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Paris by its agents in Canada, which can now be read. This is 
true of every French and Indian war until 1763, and the fact 
was as well known to the settlers here in 1707 as it is to the 
historical investigator of to-day. 

"In the beginning of 1707 reports of an expedition by tlie 
French and Indians against some part of New England gave 
alarm to the Colony, and on the sixth of February of tliat year 
a council of war was convened at Hartford, consisting of the 
Governor, most of the Council, and many of the chief military 
officers of the Colony. Suspicions were entertained that the 
attack would fall upon Western Connecticut, and that the In- 
dians in this vicinity intended to join the French and Indians. 
The Council of War determined that the then western frontier 
towns of Danbury, Woodbury, Watei'bury, and Simsbury, 
should be fortified with the utmost expedition. They were di- 
rected to keep scouts of faithful men to range the forests to 
discover the designs of the enemy, and give intelligence should 
they make their appearance near the frontier. At the October 
session in 1708 it w^as enacted that garrisons should be kept 
at those towns, and so It continued until after the close of the 
war In 1713. 

" It was In the midst of alarms and dangers such as these 
that the settlement of this town was begun. One of the first 
houses constructed here had palisades about It to serve as a 
fort, which lasted many years, and, in 1717, soldiers were sta- 
tioned here for the protection of the inhabitants ; and this was 
repeated several times afterwards. Every man here was a sol- 
dier. He was a soldier when he sat at his meals, a soldier when 
he stood at his door, a soldier when he went to the cornfield, a 
soldier by day and by night. 

" At the time the first settlers arrived here there was a tract 
of cleared land on the west side of the river called the Indian 
Field. It extended from where the river runs in an easterly 
direction south to the mouth of the little brook which runs 
along Fort Hill. It was not included In the original purchase 
from the Indians, having been reserved by them In their deed. 
It was, however, purchased from them In 1705 by .John Mitchell, 



The Historical Meeting 261 

and was conveyed by him to the inhabitants of the town in 
1714. This was of the greatest advantage to the first settlers. 
It furnished them a space of cleared ground, where each planter 
could at once plant his corn and other crops without the delay 
of felling the trees. 

" It is thought also that the ground where we now stand 
and Aspetuck Hill had been in a large measure cleared of trees 
by the Indians by burning, as was also Grassy Hill, two miles 
east of here. There appears also to have been some meadow 
land partially cleared at the mouth of the Aspetuck River. 

" At that time the country about here presented no such 
appearance as it does now. The river then flowed with a 
fuller tide. With the exceptions I have noted, a continuous 
forest overspread the whole landscape. No thickets, however, 
choked up the ways through it, for the underbrush was swept 
away every year by fires built by the Indians for that purpose. 
Winding footpaths led here and there, which the Indians and 
wild beasts followed. The roots of the smaller grasses were 
destroyed by this annual burning over. A coarse, long grass 
grew along the low banks of the river and wherever the ground 
was not thickly shaded by trees. After the occupation of the 
country by the white settlers this annual burning was prohib- 
ited. In lieu thereof, the General Court early in its history 
enacted that every inhabitant, with a few exceptions, should 
devote a certain time yearly, in the several plantations, to the 
cutting of brush and small trees in the more open forests for 
the purpose of allowing grass to grow in such places, as during 
the summer the cattle ranged through the forests near the 
plantations subsisting on what grew there. It is said that in 
the early settlement of this town all meadow land was secured 
by clearing marshy or swampy ground and allowing it to grow 
up with grass from the roots and seeds already in the soil. It 
was one of the early difficulties in the colony to secure grass 
from want of seed. 

" The forests about here abounded with bears, wolves, foxes, 
and catamounts, deer and moose, wild turkeys, pigeons, quail 
and partridges, and the waters with wild geese, ducks, herons, 



262 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

and cranes. The river itself was alive with fish, and every 
spring great quantities of shad and lamprey eels ascended it. 
Strawberries, blackberries, and huckleberries were extremely 
abundant in their season. 

" The winters were usually of great severity. In 1637 the 
snow lay on the ground three feet deep all over New England 
from the third of November until the twenty-third of March, 
and on the twenty-third of April it snowed for several hours 
in Boston, the flakes being as large as shillings. The springs 
were very backward, the summers extremely hot and often dry. 

" Upon the petition of the people of Milford, in May, 1702, 
the General Assembly granted them liberty to purchase from 
the Indians a township at Wyantonock, the Indian name of this 
place, and directed them to report their doings to the As- 
sembly. The next March they made an extensive purchase of 
the natives, and a patent for the same was granted by the 
Assembly. In October, 1704, the Legislature enacted that the 
tract so purchased should be a township by the name of New 
jMilford, and that it must be settled in five years, — the town 
plat to be fixed by a committee appointed by the General 
Assembly. In October, 1706, the Legislature annexed the tract 
to New Haven County. In April, 1706, the first meeting of the 
proprietors was held at Milford, and it was voted that the 
town plat and home lots should be speedily pitched and laid 
out by the committee appointed by the Legislature, according 
to its own best judgment, following certain rules laid down 
by the proprietors. During that year and according to those 
rules, the town plat was laid out. 

" It was originally intended to lay out the settlement on 
the hill immediately east of the present village, from this cir- 
cumstance called Town Hill to this day. In point of fact, it was 
laid out on Aspetuck Hill, and consisted of the town street and 
sixteen home lots. The street was twenty rods wide. It began 
at the south end of the brow of the hill, or at the lower end of 
what was then called the ' Plain on the Hill,' and extended 
northward. Eight lots were laid out on each side of this 
street, each lot being twenty-one rods wide and sixty deep. 



The Historical Meeting 268 

" By the rules adopted by the proprietors, these lots were to 
be taken up successively in regular order by the settlers as 
they should arrive. John Noble took the first lot on the east 
side of the street at the lower end, he being the first settler to 
arrive. John Bostwick took the lot on the opposite side of the 
street, he being the next settler on the ground. This method 
was followed by the others until there were twelve settlers, with 
their families, numbering seventy souls, located on this street 
in 1712. Of these twelve families, four were from Northamp- 
ton and Westfield, Mass., four were from Stratford, two from 
Farmington, and only two from Milford. In 1714 the town 
street was extended southward to the south end of the present 
public green. 

" The first houses constructed here by the settlers were of 
the rudest description. They were built of logs fastened by 
notching at the corners. They were usually from fifteen to 
eighteen feet square, and about seven feet in height, or high 
enough for a tall man to enter. At first they had no floors. 
The fireplace was erected at one end by making a back of 
stones laid in mud, and not in mortar, and a hole was left in 
the bark or slab roof for the escape of the smoke. A chimney 
of sticks plastered with mud was afterwards erected in this 
opening. A space, of width suitable for a door, was cut in one 
side, and this was closed, at first, by hanging in it a blanket, 
and afterwards by a door made from split planks and hung on 
wooden hinges. This door was fastened by a wooden latch on 
the inside, which could be raised from the outside by a string. 
When the string was pulled in the door was effectually fastened. 
A hole was cut in each side of the house to let in light, and, 
as glass was difficult to obtain, greased paper was used to keep 
out the storms and cold of autumn and winter. Holes were 
bored at the proper height in the logs at one corner of the 
room, and into these the ends of poles were fitted, the opposite 
ends, where they crossed, being supported by a crotch or a 
block of the proper height. Across these poles others were 
laid, and these were covered by a thick mattress of hemlock 
boughs, over which blankets were spread. On such beds as 



264 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

these the first inhabitants of this town slept and their first 
children were born. For want of chairs, rude seats were made 
with ax and auger by boring holes and inserting legs in planks 
split from basswood logs, hewn smooth on one side. Tables 
were made in the same way, and, after a time, the floor, a bare 
space being left about the fireplace instead of a hearthstone. 

" No sooner had the first settlers taken up their abode here 
than they were called upon to defend the title to their lands 
in the courts of the Colony. About thirty-seven years before, 
the General Court had granted permission to certain Stratford 
parties to buy land from the Indians and settle a plantation at 
this place, and they had bought over twenty-six thousand acres 
hereabouts. Apparently, however, no attempt was made 
towards a settlement of the same until after the purchase of 
the same tract from the Indians by the Milford parties in 1702, 
and the grant for a patent for the same to them by the Gen- 
eral Court in 1703. Soon after the settlers first broke ground 
here, in 1707, a suit was begun against them by the Stratford 
people in the County Court at New Haven in May, 1708, and 
it was carried thence to the General Court. It was tried six- 
teen times. The first fifteen times the plaintiff^s won on the 
strength of their Indian title. The sixteenth, the defendants 
won on the strength of their Indian title, the patent from the 
General Court, and occupation. This incident is particularly 
interesting, because one of the plaintiffs and the lawyer in this 
great case was the famous John Read, one of the ablest men 
and most remarkable characters which New England has pro- 
duced. Some notice of him will not be inappropriate here, as 
he was one of the earliest inhabitants of this place. 

" He was born at Fairfield, June 29, 1679, and was a brother- 
in-law of Governor Talcott. He graduated at Harvard in 
1697, and became a minister, preached in Woodbury as a can- 
didate, and in various towns in Hartford and Fairfield coun- 
ties, and preached the first sermon ever dehvered in this place. 
He studied law, and when, in 1708, the General Assembly first 
provided for the appointment of attorneys as officers of the 
court, he was one of the first admitted. He held the offices of 



The Historical Meeting 265 

Colony Queen's Attorney, 1712-16; Deputy for Norwalk, 
1715-17; Commissioner to settle the boundary with New York, 
1719; and he was Connecticut's representative in the Inter- 
Colonial Commission in regard to Bills of Credit, in 1720, He 
removed to Boston in 1722 and became the Attorney General 
and a member of the Council of Massachusetts. He was by 
far the most eminent lawyer of New England, and was called 
' The Pride of the Bar, Light of the Law, and Chief among the 
Wise, Witty, and Eloquent.' It was he who prepared the in- 
structions to Lord Mansfield, the counsel for Connecticut in 
the great case of Clark vs. Tousey, in which was discussed the 
question whether the Common Law of England had any force 
in Connecticut other than as it was adopted by the people of 
Connecticut. His exposition of the principles involved was 
most masterly, and it was the great authority upon which in a 
later generation the people of Connecticut relied to sustain 
them in their opposition to the measures of the crown in 
1775. 

" In a centenary sermon delivered at Danbury in January, 
1801, the Rev. Thomas Robbins had this to say of him: 

" ' One of the early inhabitants of Danbury was John Read, 
a man of great talents and thoroughly skilled in the knowledge 
and practice of the law. He possessed naturally many pecu- 
liarities and affected still more. He is known to this day 
through the country by many singular anecdotes and charac- 
teristics under the appellation of " John Read, the lawyer." ' 

" In 1712 the town was incorporated, which gave it the 
power to tax the inhabitants to support a minister, and the 
place became thereby an ecclesiastical society. In March, 1712, 
the Rev. Daniel Boardman was called to preach to the settlers. 
In May, 1715, the settlers petitioned the General Assembly 
that they might obtain liberty for the settlement of the worship 
and ordinances of God among them, and the Legislature 
granted them liberty to embody in church estate as soon as 
God in his providence should make way therefor. On Novem- 
ber 21, 1716, Mr. Boardman was duly ordained as the pastor 
of the Church of Christ in New Milford, the total number of 



266 The Bi-Centennial, Exercises 

the inhabitants of the town then being one hundred and twenty- 
five. The first vote of the town to build a meeting-house was 
passed in 1716, but work was not commenced upon it until 
1719, and it was not completed until 1731, after infinite strug- 
gling. It was forty feet long, thirty wide, and twenty feet in 
height between joints, and was provided with galleries, pews, 
and a pulpit. Long before completion, when it was first used 
for religious purposes, the congregation was accustomed to 
sit upon its outer sills, which were able to accommodate ever} 
man, woman, and child in the town with a little squeezing. In 
1713, the town voted to build for the minister a dwelling house 
forty feet between joints. In 1726, thirteen years later, the 
house was still unfinished. The first Sabbath Day house was 
not built until 1745. 

" In 1721, when there were but thirty-five families residing 
here, a public school was ordered by the town to be kept for 
four months the winter following, one-half of the expense to be 
borne by the town. The children were taught reading, spell- 
ing after a phonetic fashion, writing, and the first four rules 
of arithmetic. In 1725 it was voted to build a schoolhouse 
twenty feet long, sixteen feet wide, and seven feet in height be- 
tween the joints. 

" The first settlers crossed the Housatonic to their lands on 
the west side by fording it at a point near the mouth of Rocky 
River, about a mile above the settlement, or at Waunupee 
Island in times of very low water. In 1720 the town built a 
boat for the purpose, which was used until 1737, when the first 
bridge ever built across the Housatonic from its source to its 
mouth was constructed at what is now the foot of Bennett 
Street. 

" The settlers for many years crushed their grain by hand in 
mortars or carried it to mill at Danbury, Woodbury, or Derby, 
and brought back the flour and meal. In 1717 John Griswold, 
under an arrangement with the town, built a grist and saw 
mill on Still River, at what is now Lanesville. 

" It is said that in 1713 there was but one clothier in the 
colony. The most that he could do was to full the cloth 



The Historical Meeting 267 

which was made in the homes. A great proportion of it was 
worn without shearing or pressing. He hved at Woodbury, 
and thither the early inhabitants of this town resorted to have 
their cloth fulled. People, to a very large extent, wore cloth- 
ing made from the skins of animals. They also wore wooden 
shoes and moccasins, or went barefoot, although leather boots 
and shoes were sometimes used. 

" The implements which they used in subduing the wilder- 
ness, their axes, saws, plows, hoes, and scythes, were of the 
rudest description. Their horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, we 
should now regard as of very inferior quality. The same was 
true of the few vegetables they cultivated and of their fruits, 
especially their apples. Turnips, squashes, and beans were the 
principal vegetables. Potatoes were not as yet cultivated in 
New England, onions were not generally, and tomatoes were 
looked upon as poisonous. Some of them owned negro slaves, 
but worked the harder themselves to make them work. 

" They had little or no currency, taxes and debts being paid 
in produce. What they ate, what they wore, what they coaxed 
from the reluctant soil of these hillsides, cost them infinite 
labor. As was to be expected, a stingy avarice was their be- 
setting sin, which manifested itself in all the relations of life. 
They were without newspapers, none being published in the 
Colony until 1755. They had few books, the first printing 
press in the Colony not having been set up at New London 
until 1709. They suffered greatly from malaria and other 
forms of sickness, as did all the early settlers in the State. 
Medical treatment was poor and difficult to obtain. The women 
went to the limit in childbearing, and the burden of rearing 
their large families was awful. The art of cooking was little 
understood. They had no stoves nor table forks. The food 
was served in a very unsavory fashion, and was very indiges- 
tible. The people therefore had frightful dreams, and dys- 
pepsia was very prevalent. No carpet was seen here for a 
hundred years after the settlement. Communication with the 
outer world was slow, difficult, and rare. On several occasions, 
owing to the failure of their crops and the difficulty in getting 



268 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

relief from distant places little better off, they nearly starved 
to death. 

" Truly the task which they had undertaken to subdue this 
wilderness, to plant here the civil, religious, and educational in- 
stitutions of Connecticut, and to prepare this beautiful heritage 
for their children and children's children, was no holiday pas- 
time, no gainful speculation, no romantic adventure. It was 
grim, persistent, weary toil and danger, continued through 
many years, with the wolf at the door and the savage in the 
neighboring thicket. 

" Besides the physical evils with which they were beset, they 
had spiritual troubles also. They fully believed in witchcraft, 
as did all their contemporaries, in a personal Devil who was 
busily plotting the ruin of their souls, in an everlasting hell of 
literal fire and brimstone, and in a divine election, by which 
most of them had been irrevocably doomed from before the 
creation of the world to eternal perdition, from which nothing 
which they could do, or were willing to do, could help to rescue 
them. The great object of life to them, therefore, was to try 
to find out what their future state would be. Said one of their 
preachers : ' It is tough work and a wonderful hard matter 
to be saved. ' Tis a thousand to one, if ever thou be one of 
that small number whom God hath picked out to escape this 
wrath to come.' That we may get a touch of reality from those 
far-off days, let me quote to you a few lines from the saintly 
Thomas Hooker, the founder of Connecticut and long the 
model for her preachers : 

" ' Suppose any soul here present were to behold the damned 
in hell, and if the Lord should give thee a peephole into 
hell, that thou didst see the horror of those damned souls, 
and thy heart begins to shake in consideration thereof; then 
propound this to thy own heart, what pains the damned in hell 
do endure for sin, and thy heart will shake and quake at it. The 
least sin that thou ever didst commit, though thou makest a 
light matter of it, is a greater evil than the pains of the 
damned in hell, setting aside their sins. All the torments in 
hell are not so great an evil as the least sin is ; men begin to 



The Historical, Meeting 269 

shrink at this, and loathe to go down to hell and be in endless 
torment.' 

" The only test which they were taught to apply to ascertain 
whether they were predestined to suffer or escape this fearful 
doom was in their ability and willingness to conform their 
wills to the will of God as revealed in the Bible. According as 
they succeeded in this, they had a reasonable assurance as to 
their fate, though no wile of the Devil was more frequent than 
to falsely persuade men that their prospects were favorable. 
To study the Scriptures day and night to ascertain the will of 
God, and to struggle without ceasing to conform their wills to 
his as therein revealed, was therefore the great object of exist- 
ence for them, not that they could thereby alter in the least 
their future state, but that they might, if possible, find out what 
it was likely to be. 

" Should this recital of their beliefs provoke a smile, our 
amusement will soon be checked by the thought of the little 
progress which has been made in the last two hundred years 
towards solving the same problems. The origin of evil, the 
inci-adicable tendency of the human heart to sin and do evil, 
the mournful spectacle of ruin and desolation in the moral 
world, and the future life are the same inscrutable mysteries 
to us as to them. If we have constructed or adopted a more 
comfortable theology, it is probably because we are less logical 
than they. It is perhaps because we have forgotten or refused 
to look at some things at which they did not blink. 

" Then, too, the Lord was abroad in those days. Their 
thoughts were deeply tinged by the semi-pagan views with 
which the authors of both the Old and New Testaments were 
imbued. When the thunder crashed, it was the voice of an 
angry God that spoke. When the lightning flashed, it was 
the gleam of His angry eye. Benjamin Franklin was then but 
a year old, and electricity had not become the packhorse of the 
world. The smiles and frowns of nature in all her varying 
moods through all the days and seasons, which we ascribe to 
the operations of law, were to them the visible tokens of the 
wrath or favor of the Almighty. On December 11, 1719, for 



270 The Bi-Centennial Exeecises 

the first time in the history of the Colony, the northern lights 
were seen here. They shone with the greatest brilliancy. The 
consternation they caused was fearful. The people had never 
heard of such a phenomenon. They considered it the opening 
scene of the Day of Judgment. All amusement was given up, 
all business was forsaken, and sleep itself was interrupted for 
days. Again, on the twenty-ninth of October, 1727, a mighty 
earthquake occurred, which shook with tremendous violence the 
whole Atlantic seaboard. The people here believed that the 
Lord was about to swallow them up in His fierce anger. The 
women throughout New England immediately discontinued the 
wearing of hoop skirts, then recently come into fashion, believ- 
ing that the earthquake was the sign of the Lord's displeasure 
at the sinful innovation. 

" Hardly had the first settlers here begun to build perma- 
nent homes for the living when they were called upon to pro- 
vide resting places for the dead. The first person to be buried 
in yonder burying ground was a child, a girl, Mary, the daugh- 
ter of Benjamin Bostwick. The next was John Noble, the first 
settler and the first Town Clerk. He died August 17, 1714. 
The town formally laid out the burying ground in 1716. With- 
in fifty years three hundred had gone to rest there. 

" There were no religious exercises at the funerals, neither 
singing, praying, preaching, nor reading of the Scriptures. 
This was by way of revolt from former superstitious practices. 
The friends gathered, condoled with the afflicted ones, sat 
around a while, and then the corpse was taken to the burying 
ground. After that the party returned to the house of the 
deceased, where much eating and drinking was indulged in, 
and, if the weather permitted, outdoor games and horse races 
were in order. The next Sabbath an appropriate funeral ser- 
mon was preached. A bereaved husband or wife usually soon 
married again. 

" The meeting-house was never heated, but the people, sum- 
moned by drum beat, attended it every Sabbath, morning and 
afternoon, even in the severest weather, although no Sabbath 
Day house was erected here until 1745. 



The Historical Meeting £71 

" The sacramental bread often froze upon tlie communion 
plate, as did the ink in the minister's study. The people worked 
their minister very hard, as was the case in all early New Eng- 
land communities. They went to church not so much because 
they had to as because they wanted to. Church-going was their 
principal recreation. They demanded long prayers and two 
long sermons each Sabbath from their minister, usually on 
doctrinal points, which they acutely criticised. Services began 
at nine o'clock in the forenoon and continued until five in the 
afternoon, with an hour's intermission. Soldiers, fully armed, 
were always in attendance throughout the services ready to 
repel any attack upon the settlement. It should be added, how- 
ever, that with all their strictness in Sabbath-keeping and cate- 
chising, in family and church discipline, there was great license 
in those days in speech and manner, much hard drinking, and 
rude merry-making, due to their rough form of living. They 
were not what they wanted to be, nor what a loyal posterity 
perhaps longs to believe them. They had red blood in their 
veins. They were among the most enterprising men of their 
generation. They were backwoodsmen, the vanguard of that 
wonderful race which in two hundred years pushed westward 
the frontier from this place to the Pacific, fighting with man 
and beast the whole way, and sowed the land with vigorous 
sons and daughters. 

" The congregational singing in those days must have been 
an interesting performance. When the first settlers came to 
New England from the old country, they brought with them 
a few tunes, to which they sang all the psalms and hymns. 

" The proper mode of rendering these was through the nose. 
With the lapse of time and the advent of a new generation, 
these tunes became jangled together in inextricable confusion. 
The practice was for a deacon as leader to read a line of the 
psalm or hymn, and the congregation then sang at it as best 
they could, each one using such tune as he chose, and often 
sliding from one tune to another in the same line or improvising 
as he went on. Finally, in 1721, the Rev. Thomas Walter of 
Roxbury, Mass., published a treatise upon the grounds or rules 



272 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

of music, or an introduction to the art of singing by rote, con- 
taining twenty-four tunes harmonized into three parts. The 
attempt to supersede the old Puritan tunes and restrict the 
liberty of the individual singers met with the greatest opposi- 
tion and was long successfully resisted in all the churches in 
New England, so tenacious were they of the rights of the indi- 
vidual singer. It caused great dissension in the church at this 
place. Finally, in February, 1740, the church voted to halve 
the time for the next year, singing the old way one Sabbath 
and the new way the next, and in 1741, at a meeting specially 
called to settle the matter, it was voted thirty to sixteen to sing 
thereafter after the new way. 

" No musical instruments were allowed in the meeting-house. 
They had never seen or heard a church organ. But they knew 
that their fathers likened its sound to the bellowing of a bull, 
the grunting of a pig, and the barking of a dog, and had re- 
sisted its use in religious services even to the shedding of blood. 
Nor were flowers allowed in the church. 

" In those days in New England women were not thought 
to have minds worth educating, and they were brought up in 
extreme illiteracy. Nevertheless, their natural wit, brightness, 
and good sense made them very agreeable companions of the 
superior sex. And their influence over their husbands, sons, 
and brothers was quite as great as that of their more cultivated 
daughters of the present day. The refining, educating, stim- 
ulating influence of the women had much to do in withstanding 
that tendency back to barbarism which life in an isolated and 
new community led to. The debt which is owed to them is 
incalculable. 

" As the descendants of these people assemble here to-day, 
after the lapse of two hundred years, to commemorate their 
work and rejoice in all the strength, beauty, and order, now 
smiling around us in peace and plenty, which have grown out 
of what they began, and as we look back upon their condition, 
trials, and experiences, we are apt to imagine that their lot, 
contrasted with our own, was an unhappy one. Nothing could 
be further from the truth. They were a brave, hardy, thrifty. 



The Historical Meeting 273 

frugal, industrious, and most capable people. Man for man, 
and woman for woman, they were probably superior to those 
here to-day in faculty, and in the capacity for healthy enjoy- 
ment. Their whole previous lives had inured them to their 
experiences. They were the sons and grandsons of the original 
pioneers of New England, and they had been born and reared 
in rude settlements. They never indulged the delusion that this 
region was a land flowing with milk and honey. Before they 
came they knew that they were to wrest their living from an 
uncongenial soil, to struggle with penury, and to conquer only 
by constant toil and by self-denying thrift. The forest would 
supply them with the materials for shelter and fuel and to some 
extent with food and clothing. All the rest must depend upon 
their own exertions. There was a pleasure in facing and over- 
coming the perils and difficulties which they encountered which 
those, more delicately reared, who live here now can never know. 
Their individual helplessness in the face of appalling obstacles 
to be met but bound them closer together in mutual helpfulness. 
Accordingly we find that their social faculties were highly de- 
veloped. It may well be doubted whether the sum total of 
human pleasure among the whole five thousand inhabitants of 
the town to-day is any greater than it was among the few hun- 
dred who settled it. Probably our own superabundance of good 
things has actually lessened our capacity to enjoy, in compar- 
ison with theirs. Their simple tastes and homely joys amid 
their rude surroundings were probably more productive of 
positive pleasure and real happiness than all the refinement and 
culture of our twentieth century civilization. 

" It would be a pleasing and instructive task to trace the 
progress of this old town from those rude beginnings to its 
present strength and wealth. But the limits of the time and 
subject allotted to me on this occasion forbid. It is the prod- 
uct of the labors of eight generations, who now sleep beneath 
its soil. They never could have foreseen the present. They 
never knew or thought of us. Each generation was busy with 
its own problems, tasks, and experiences. 

" As we look back upon them our hearts are filled with 



274 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

gratitude for the results of their work. A clean-blooded, land- 
loving, thrifty race, through their activities they escaped from 
the poverty of their beginnings and attained unto an almost 
ideal abundance of the primal needs of civilization. Their 
physical condition became probably as good as that of any 
other village community in the world. Their experiences stim- 
ulated their intellectual life into full activity, and they bore 
their full share in the wonderful work which Connecticut has 
done in the world. In all critical times in both State and 
nation, the sons of New Milford, both native and adopted, 
have been very active and influential, and one of them, Roger 
Sherman, performed a work which will last as long as this 
nation shall continue to be free and independent, or as long 
as the Constitution of the United States shall endure. 

" We know that the past two hundred years are but the be- 
ginning of a long history of this town. We believe that as the 
years roll by, at the close of each century of its life, the events 
of this day will be repeated liere. What will be the lot of those 
who shall stand here, one two, three, and four hundred years 
hence, to recall the origin and history of this town, we cannot 
conceive. Our hope is that it will be as peaceful, as prosper- 
ous, and as contented as our own. 

" Whatever it shall be, we expect that their desire to know 
what can be known of that long-vanished world, in which both 
present and future have their roots, will lead them to examine 
the memorial of what is said and done here to-day. We are not 
more sure that the Housatonic will then be flowing than that 
they will share with us in aff'ectionate interest in what has gone 
before." 

The rendering of the " Star Spangled Banner " and scA'eral 
other selections by Prof. Clemence's Bi-Centennial Chorus was 
an inspiring feature of the Historical Meeting. 



THE COLONIAL RECEPTION 

Soon after the close of the Historical Meeting, the booming 
of cannon announced the arrival in New Milford of Governor 
Woodruff, his staff and a detail of the Governor's Foot Guard. 
They were met at the railroad station by a train of automobiles, 
in which they were taken, after a short ride about the village, 
to Ingleside School, where they dined in the company of a num- 
ber of prominent citizens. 

Promptly at 8 :30 o'clock, the gubernatorial party arrived 
at Roger Sherman Hall, where it was arranged that they 
should meet the people of the town, and entered it by a side 
door. Before the main door was opened for the admission of 
the general public, seats were given upon the stage and on the 
floor of the hall in front of the wings on either side to the 
members of the Colonial Reception Committee and of the Invi- 
tation, Reception, and Entertainment Committee ; also to the 
following persons, who had been requested by these commit- 
tees to assist them in receiving: 

Mr. and Mrs. John F. Addis, Mrs. F. E. Baldwin. Dr. and 
Mrs. J. C. Barker, Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Barnes, Miss Mary 
Barton, Miss Hattie Bassett, Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Beach, Mr. 
and Mrs. S. C. Beach, Miss Charlotte B. Bennett, Mr. and 
Mrs. W. F. Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. C. P. Bentley, Miss Helen 
M. Boardman, Miss Kate T. Boardman, Miss Ruth Booth, 
Miss Lena Botsford, Miss Bessie Brown, Miss Adaline Buck, 
Miss Alice Buck, Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Donnelly, Miss Susie C. 
Erwin, Miss Minnie A. Ferriss, Miss Jeannette Gaylord, Mr. 
and Mrs. Minot S. Giddings, W. G. Green, Mr. and Mrs. S. 
S. Green, Mr. and Mrs. C. N. Hall, INIiss Elsie Hall, Mr. and 
Mrs. H. D. Hine, Mrs. J. S. Halpine, Mr. and Mrs. G. H. 
Jackson, Rev. and Mrs. F. A. Johnson, Dr. and Mrs. F. E. 
King, Mrs. W. F. Kinney, Mr. and Mrs. David Kyle, Miss 

275 



276 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Carrie Marsh, Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey Marsh, A. H. Mc- 
Mahon, Miss Grace Merwin, Mr. Perry Green, Mr. C. H. 
Noble and sister. Miss Lizzie Noble, W. B. Pell, Mrs. Petti- 
bone, Mrs. J. F. Plumb, Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Randall, Miss 
Juliette Rogers, Mrs. Wni. Schoverling, Miss Harriet V. Sher- 
man, Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Starr, Miss Minnie Toussaint, F. M. 
Williams, Dr. and Mrs. G. H. Wright. 

The New Milford Cadets (Captain Gilford Noble) were 
drawn up as guard of honor about the hall, forming an aisle 
around an open square, through which the people walked as 
they advanced to greet the Governor and passed out again 
after shaking his hand. The members of the staff, in full uni- 
form, were in front of the stage and back of the Governor, 
while, to the right and left of them, the detail from the Foot 
Guard were stationed as a special guard. By the side of his 
Excellency stood W. Frank Kinney, the chairman of the , 
Bi-Centennial Invitation, Reception and Entertainment Com- 
mittee, who presented every one by name. There were many 
Colonial costumes, many gay uniforms, and many elaborate 
evening toilettes. In the exquisite setting provided by the pale 
blue, white and yellow colonial draperies and festoons with 
which the hall was most artistically decorated, the reception 
offered an exceptionally brilliant spectacle. In fact, it was 
probably the most striking affair of its kind New Milford has 
ever witnessed. 

Dancing was begun, to the music of Gartland's Band, when 
the handshaking was over, and was kept up for two or three 
hours after the Governor and his party had retired. 

Governor Woodruff was also entertained in the rooms of 
the Commercial Club ; in Odd Fellows' and INIasonic Hall, where 
he was formally welcomed by Henry O. Warner, Past Master 
of the New Milford Masonic lodge ; and by the New Milford 
Fire Department, in their quarters, where he was welcomed by 
Chief John F. Addis, who presented him with an engrossed cer- 
tificate of honorary membership in Water Witch Hose Com- 
pany, No. 2. 



GOVERNOR'S DAY 

On Tuesday, the culminating day of the Bi-Centennial Cele- 
bration, New Milford possessed a population variously esti- 
mated at from ten to fifteen thousand — the largest, probably, 
of any moment in its history. The heat was intense, and some 
were so tactless as to prophesy showers. Others — and these 
were right — scoffed at such a possibility, basing their optimism 
on the fact that the new uniforms of the Governor's staff had 
never yet been wet and that New Milford was not going to be 
ungracious enough to be instrumental in wetting them. 

The forenoon was devoted to the preparation of the Civic 
and Military Parade, which was scheduled to begin at noon. 
Only a few minutes after the time appointed, the column began 
to move in the following order: 

FORMATION OF PARADE 

CHIEF MARSHAL SAMUEL R. HILL IN CHARGE. 

First Division 

Platoon of Police, Capt. David Bradley of Danbury 

Chief Marshal and Staff (Perry Green, Noble Booth, Charles 

Pomeroy, Madeline Dodd, Louise Beeman.) 

Gartland's Tenth Regiment Band 

Second Company, Governor's Foot Guards, Major Weed 

Governor Rollin S. Woodruff and Staff 

Bugle Corps 

Company G, Third Infantry, C. N. G., Captain Ryder 

Upton Post, G. A. R., John F. Williams 

New Milford Cadets, Captain Gifford Noble 

Official Guests in Carriages 

277 



278 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Second Division 

Marshal David E. Soule and Staff (Dr. C. B. Blackman, 

George Dean, Louis Wilton) 

Second Regiment Band 

Water Witch Hose Company, No. 2, of New Milford 

Danbury Military Band 

Litchfield Fire Department 

American Brass Band of Waterbury 

Fountain Hose Company, No. 1, of Ansonia 

Holt's American Band of New Haven 

Echo Hose, Hook and Ladder Company of Shelton 

Ansonia Brass Band 

Eagle Hose, Hook and Ladder Company, No. 6, of Ansonia 

Bethel Drum Corps 

Danbury Volunteer Fire Department 

Third Division 

Marshal George E. Ackley and Staff (Granville Breinig, W. 

M. Keeler, Clifford A. Trowbridge) 

Boys of Center High School, Marching in Costume 

School Children in Floats in District Order 

Fourth Division 

Marshal Henry O. Warner and Staff (James Marsh, W. C. 

Beeman, Clifford Marsh) 

Wheeler & Wilson Band of Bridgeport (by courtesy of Roger 

Sherman Chapter, D. A. R.) 

Colonial Features 

Industrial Floats 

There were more military organizations, fire companies, drum 
corps, and brass bands in line, probably, than had ever been 
seen at one time in New Milford, and they elicited by their 
brilliant uniforms, stirring music, and fine marching the admira- 
tion and the hearty applause of the crowds massed along the 
line of march ; but the features which differentiated this parade 
from all previous ones, which lent it special distinction, and 



"^•m 




— XI 

■"■ it) 



X V. 



^ 'J 




GovEfiNoa's Day 279 

which will make it memorable as long as the youngest persons 
who witnessed it shall survive, were the school floats, the Colo- 
nial floats, and industrial floats of the Third and Fourth divi- 
sions. 

The school features were as follows: 

Boys of the Center School costumed as Indians and farmers 
— the Indians emitting blood-curdling war-whoops from time 
to time. 

Pony cart trimmed with pink and white containing members 
of " Miss Treat's class " representing butterflies. 

Float of " Room 1 " (Center School), trimmed with white 
and yellow, carrying under a canopy twenty girls dressed in 
white. It was drawn by two sorrel horses also trimmed with 
white and yellow. 

Another float of " Room 1 " trimmed with flags and bunting. 
It contained twenty-three girls and was drawn by four horses. 

Flower girls dressed in pink and green — to represent the 
petals and sepals of flowers — on a " Cinderella " float provided 
with a pink canopy. It was drawn by a pair of black horses. 

Float of "Rooms 5 and 6" (Center School), trimmed 
mostly with green and white and carrying twenty-four girls. 
It was drawn by black horses which were decorated with flags. 

Float of "Rooms 7 and 8" (Center School), green and 
white — stars of green laurel against white bunting — carrying 
twenty children in white wearing white wreaths. 

Float of "Rooms 3 and 4" (Center School), yellow and 
white, carrying forty children under a canopy. 

Park Lane Float, pink and white, carrying thirty-one chil- 
dren — the girls wearing white gowns with pink sashes. It was 
drawn by iron-gray horses wearing pink and white harnesses. 
David Rothe's dog, trimmed with white, blue, and pink, rode 
proudly on the driver's seat beside the driver. 

Hill and Plain Float, decorated with evergreens, bunting, 
and flags. 

Second Hill Float, representing an open trolley car, bearing 
the legends—" Second Hill Traction Co.," " Cross Town," and 
" Fireworks To-night " — and, in the advertising spaces, cards 



280 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

provided by the village merchants. The conductor amused the 
spectators greatly by the tireless energy he displaying in col- 
lecting and ringing up the fares. This float, which was 
trimmed with patriotic bunting, was drawn by three horses and 
carried thirty-five children, each holding a flag. It was de- 
signed by Mrs. Andrew Clark. 

Upper Merryall Float, decorated with red, white and blue 
bunting. It was drawn by black horses and carried twenty- 
two children. 

Chestnut Land Float, white and green — ground pine and 
laurel against white bunting — carrying forty children. It was 
drawn by four horses decorated with greenery. 

Aspetuck Float, representing a sixteen-foot flower-bordered 
birch-bark canoe. It was trimmed with garnet and gold and 
was provided with a garnet banner. It carried sixteen children 
(gaily adorned " braves " and maidens) and the teacher. 

Boardman Float, decorated with flags and patriotic bunt- 
ing, bearing the device, " 1707-1907 " in green letters on a 
white ground. It carried twenty-eight children. 

Lower Merryall Float, trimmed with Colonial yellow, white, 
and blue bunting and flying a big flag. The children, who were 
seated under a canopy, wore rosettes of the same colors. Four 
footmen in yellow walked beside it, 

Gaylordsville and Waller Float, decorated with bunting and 
flags. The children, fifteen in number, sat on raised seats, one 
row above another, and held flags and baskets of flowers. It 
was drawn by four horses, whose driver was disguised as Uncle 
Sam. 

Northville and Hunt Float, a " little red schoolhouse," 
trimmed with evergreens. It was drawn by two yoke of Nelson 
Kenney's steers. Children leaning out of the front windows 
held red, white, and blue ribbons, which were attached to the 
horns of the steers. 

Long Mountain Float, decorated with white bunting, flags, 
and ground pine. It carried twenty-two children. 

Still River Float, trimmed with flags, plumes, and bunting, 
and provided with a white canopy and a bell. It was drawn 



Goveenob's Day 281 

by four horses and carried thirty-five children (the girls in 
white dresses, the boys in shirt waists) wearing flag sashes. 
The teacher sat upon a throne. 

The Colonial features of the parade were preceded by a man 
carrying a beautiful blue and gold banner of Roger Sherman 
Chapter, D. A. R., Charles G. Peck of Newtown in Colonial 
costume on his famous high-stepping horse, and the Wheeler 
& Wilson Band of Bridgeport — the first and last named, by 
courtesy of and at the expense of Roger Sherman Chapter, 
D. A. R. 

Next came Mr, Williams and Mr. Lee of the Brookfield Drum 
Corps in Colonial costumes with drum and fife; and Joseph 
Cowan, Fred Kinbloe, and William Cogswell in Indian costume 
on horseback, the last named being a descendant of the 
Schaghticoke tribe of Indians. 

Next, a float with a log cabin representing the one built by 
John Noble, the first white settler in New Milford, Chauncey 
B. Marsh and his little daughter, Esther Noble Marsh, seven 
years old, rode on this float, in the doorway of the cabin, im- 
personating John Noble and his little daughter. A watch-dog 
was chained beside the door, a musket hung over the door, and, 
during the early part of the parade, smoke issued from the 
cabin chimney. The float was drawn by oxen. 

Back of this was started Jim Harris, better known as " Jim 
Pan," the last of the Pequots, and the only full-blooded Indian 
left in the Schaghticoke Reservation. Having filled up with 
firewater before the parade started, he soon left the Colonial 
section, marched most of the route with the fire companies, and 
ended up among the Governor's Foot Guards. He lost only his 
wig in the shuffle, the rest of his Indian suit begin securely 
strapped upon him. 

Next came Mrs. R. S. Todd and her daughter, Parthenia, in 
an old-fashioned chaise, with a dignified colored footman on 
the rumble — all attired in Colonial costume, the ladies wearing 
sun-bonnets and dimity gowns. 

Next, Andrew Humeston, on horseback, with his sister, Atha- 
lia, on a pillion, attired as a Quaker and Quakeress. Mr. 



282 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Humeston's real white fur Quaker hat, which he went far afield 
to get for this occasion, was a rehc well worth seeing. 

Next, Samuel Porter and Charles Donnelly, also on horse- 
back, as a bride and groom of Colonial times. The saddle and 
pillion used by this happy pair were very interesting. 

Next, a float with six young ladies in old-time costume oper- 
ating different spinning and flax wheels. This float was deco- 
rated with dark green and bore the inscription, "Homespun 
Days." The young ladies were Miss Florence Merwin, Miss 
Elsie Hall, Miss Julie Barker, Virginia Stevens (Miss Barker's 
little niece, three years old). Miss Flora Stilson, and Miss Min- 
nie Toussaint. The float was drawn by oxen. 

Dr. Griswold Bragaw, in Colonial costume, rode a horse fol- 
lowing this float. 

Next came a carriage, said to be one hundred years old, 
brought from Merryall and driven by two boys in Indian cos- 
tume. 

The last float represented the diff'erent styles of dress of 
periods fifty years apart in New Milford history. Mr. Fred- 
erick N. Fowler and Mrs. William Percy wore the costume of 
1707; Wilhs Barton and Miss Hattie Bassett, that of 1757; 
Merrit Merwin and Miss Grace Merwin, that of 1807 ; Mr. 
and Mrs. Frederick E. Starr, that of 1857, and Arthur Brown 
and Miss Bessie Brown, that of 1907. This float was canopied 
with yellow and bore the inscription, " Times and Costumes 
Change." 

Wm. W. Stilson impersonated the " Town Crier " and, ring- 
ing a huge bell, was typical in every way of that old-time 
character. 

The yellow and dark green draperies which concealed the 
base of all these Colonial floats gave them a highly finished 
appearance. 

The industrial features of the Parade were: 

Float of the Bridgeport Wood Finishing Company, deco- 
rated with the national colors and displaying the signs, 
"Wheeler's Patent Wood Filler," "Paint That Lasts," etc. 
It carried boxes and cans of the company's products and pieces 
of silex in its natural state. 



Governor's Day 

Float of G. B. Shiappacassec, the Bank Street fruit dealer, 
— a brand new wagon decorated with the national colors and 
carrying oranges, bananas and pineapples, arranged with a fine 
consideration for color and form. 

Float of the New Milford Hat Company, decorated with 
the national colors and carrying a group of hat-makers, who 
gave a practical illustration, along the line of march, of the 
different processes of hat-making. 

A tobacco float displaying the firm names — S. Rossin & Son, 
J. Lichtenstein, C. F. Schoverling & Co., Staubb & Mallett, 
J. Marquesee — and the legend, " New Milford Supplies the 
World with Tobacco," and carrying a lai-ge number of to- 
bacco boxes. 

Float of W. H. Coleman, a new milk wagon decorated with 
the national colors and bearing the inscription, " Conetia Farm 
Dairy." 

Float of Chauncey B. Marsh, proprietor of a New Milford 
saw-mill, decorated with white and green and carrying wedge, 
ax, saw and chain, and an enormous artificial log, which two 
dummies sawed persistently with a cross-cut saw. 

Float of the Aspetuck Valley Grange, decorated with green 
and white, roofed over with grain, and displaying the principal 
implements of husbandry and the principal products thereof. 

Float of the ice dealer, Samuel J. Ferriss — a capital, white 
cotton imitation of a snow-bank between snow-laden " Christ- 
mas trees." Upon this float rode two small boys (S. Boynton 
and Charles J., sons of Mr. Ferriss), offering dippers of ice. 

After passing through the principal streets of the village, 
the parading column was reviewed from the reviewing stand on 
the village " Green " by Governor Woodruff and his staff and 
other distinguished visitors. The paraders were then disbanded 
and provided by the Committee on Refreshments with al)undant 
good cheer in a colossal dining tent back of the Knapp build- 
ing. 

After dinner, at two o'clock, the last formal exercises of the 
Bi-Centennial were held on " The Green," Charles M. Beach 
presiding. In introducing the first speaker, Rev. Timothy J. 
Lee, Mr. Beach said: 



284 The Bi-Centennial Exeecises 

" There is much cause for regret that, on account of ill 
health, our President, Mr. Henry S. Mygatt, has been unable 
to be present or to take any part in the exercises of this Cele- 
bration. It was at his suggestion that the movement was in- 
augurated bringing about this event, and we all know that he 
worked most heartily and earnestly for its success. I am sure 
that there is a universal feeling of sympathy for him in the 
keen disappointment which is his. Because of his absence, the 
duty devolves on me to take charge of the exercises of the day. 

" The first address will be words of greeting by the Rev. T. 
J. Lee, a former pastor of the Congregational Church. Mr. 
Lee comes to us as a representative of two of the oldest fam- 
ilies in New Milford, Mrs. Lee being a lineal descendant of the 
Rev. Daniel Boardman, who was the first pastor of the old Con- 
gregational Church, and also of the Rev. Nathaniel Taylor, 
who was inaugurated its second pastor in the year 174)8, and 
continued the pastorate for a period of fifty years. 

Among other things, Mr. Lee said: 

" The other day I met one of our recently adopted sons 
whose home is in the great West. In the course of our conver- 
sation I referred to this Bi-Centenary ; but he pushed the sub- 
ject aside as trivial, and began to boast of his own great State. 
' Why,' said he, ' you can put twenty-two Connecticuts into 
our Nebraska.' Then he added that the time has come in the 
history of our country when we can cut out New England and 
not feel it. Cut New England out from the great hfe of this 
nation ! Yes, you may, when you can cut out a thread of gold 
woven in and out in a beautiful fabric without ruining the en- 
tire piece. Cut New England out! Yes, you may, when you 
can cut out from the loaf the leaven that has made it sweet 
and light. Cut New England out ! Yes, you may, when, with- 
out disfigurement, you can cut out the features of a mother 
from the face of her child. There may come a time in some 
far-off age when this great American people may become so 
afflicted with some strange, new form of insanity as to desire to 
cut out from its vast domain that sharp northeastern angle 



Governor's Day 286 

which was alike its birthplace and its cradle and the seminary 
of the best elements of its greatness. If that time ever comes, 
New England, true to her ancestral pride (I speak as one who 
knows and loves his mother), New England will say to you: 
' I am ready to go ; I desire to stay no longer where I am no 
longer wanted. But first — first, in all justice and fairness, 
give me back some of the contributions I have made to your 
greatness. Give me back the free, forceful words which from 
my pulpit, my press, and my platform have kindled the fires 
of religion and of patriotism, and quickened the intellectual 
life of generations. Give me back my millions of capital that 
have stretched across the broad land the iron bands of travel 
and of trade, changed the Western wilderness into a smiling 
garden, the desert into a fruitful field. Give me back some of 
the descendants of those loyal sons and daughters of mine, who, 
under the canvas covers of those old emigrant wagons, car- 
ried with them not merely their humble household goods, but 
the very principles of their nurture — give me back these, I say, 
and then, if you do not feel so utterly impoverished, so 
stripped of everything that can make a nation great and 
strong and enduring as to repent of your rashness and folly, 
I will go.' 

" It is true that henceforth New England's influence in the 
nation will not be that of numbers, nor of territorial great- 
ness, but she will still rule by the force of ideas and convic- 
tions, by the sovereignty of principles that can never be dis- 
crowned. 

Mr. Beach next presented Governor Woodruff in these 
words : 

" During my business experience, it has been my privilege 
to make many congenial acquaintances, one of which stands 
out most prominently to-day. A number of years ago, a 
young man called upon us representing a firm with which we 
had established relations. He has risen step by step in his 
business career, until he now occupies a position at the head of 
the firm which he then represented. A few years ago his name 



286 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

becuiiic nientiuiicd in political circles, and he has risen so rap- 
idly in this sphere that he comes to us to-day as the Chief Ex- 
ecutive of the State. 

" For integrity of character, for honesty of purpose, for 
having the courage of his convictions, he is a Governor whom 
the people of the State of Connecticut will do well to honor. 
Roosevelt at Washington, Hughes at Albany, Woodruff at 
Hartford, are the type of public officials which the people 
want. 

"It is my very great pleasure, as well as honor, to present 
not only to the people of New Milford, but also to the guests 
whom we are entertaining to-day, his Excellency, Rollin S. 
Woodruff, of New Haven, Governor of Connecticut. 

Governor Woodruff said: 

" My friends, I am very glad to join with you in celebrating 
the two hundredth birthday of the settlement of New Milford. 
This commemoration will become an interesting experience in 
your lives, and your children will never forget the history that 
is taught them by this event. They will learn of the early 
struggles of those who laid the solid foundation of Connec- 
ticut, in the establishment of her towns, in the making of her 
laws, and building of a great commonwealth out of the ma- 
terials of industry, education, and patriotism. 

" It was no easy task your forefathers set out to perform, 
when they determined to have a government as nearly demo- 
cratic in its intention as it was possible to conceive. The 
scheme of the founders of our State was to insure happiness 
for all by making all the people independent and free to gov- 
ern themselves, and to advance themselves in a way that had 
never before been dreamed of by any race of men. The wisdom 
of those early settlers in organizing society upon a liberal 
plane seems to us almost marvelous. What they hoped for has 
been realized. 

" The people who founded New Milford and the other Con- 
necticut towns were unselfish. They planned not only for them- 
selves and their time, but they planned for those that were to 
come after them. They saw through the years what might be 




HONORABLE ROLI.IX S. WOODUrFF 
Governor of Connecticut 



Governor's Day 287 

ours, if their plans prevailed. They saw the human race ris- 
ing to its highest perfection in an atmosphere of liberty and 
of opportunity. Yet their most daring fancy could not have 
pictured this surprising scene of to-day. They were rough 
and rude men two hundred years ago. And they were deter- 
mined men, and their lives were the serious hves of hardship 
and peril. What they wanted was freedom and a government 
that would keep them free. They wanted to do what was 
right — justice to all men was the motive that inspired them. 
They had faith in themselves and believed that the real govern- 
ment was that which came from the people; and they made 
their laws to last for all time, trusting to the people the re- 
sponsibility of taking care of themselves. They were the 
fathers of freedom in its truest sense, and intended to leave 
their children a house that was built upon a rock. 

" In all this, they gave evidence of the very noblest patriot- 
ism, and they have set for us an example which we have fol- 
lowed for two hundred years — an example which must continue 
to guide us in our government, if this grand development of 
Connecticut is to go forward to its highest possibilities. We 
must keep our foundations solid and build for the future. We 
must grow better as we grow older. Our lawmakers must be 
sincere and serious men. They must be representative in the 
deepest meaning of the word, for the whole happiness of our 
people depends upon the making and the administration of 
laws that are enacted in the interest of all the people of our 
State, and our representatives should be held responsible for 
their acts at the polls. The rights of the people are sacred 
and must be kept inviolate, and no law should be placed upon 
the statute book that will be a burden to the people, or that 
takes from the people any right that belongs to them all. Let 
there be no hasty, inconsiderate, or careless legislation that 
robs them of their own. Great privileges should never be 
given away to private interests, and every man's property 
should be protected throughout the State. We frequently learn 
what we have lost, when it is too late. I do not mean to alarm 
you, but I do mean to warn you that you may keep guard 



288 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

over jour right against oppression, which is sure to come 
when the people lose interest in their own affairs. 

" What an advancement you have made in two hundred 
years ! The country towns of to-day share with the large 
cities all modern advantages. Your children have matchless 
chances for education, and your commercial conditions offer 
every opportunity for success in life. The farmer of to-day 
is a prince among farmers and lives in the surroundings of 
comfort and luxury : with vast systems of water supply ; a high 
sanitai-y arrangement protecting health ; gas and electricity 
for light, heat, and power ; the telegraph in every village, and 
the telephone in every home where it is required ; the best fa- 
cilities for travel at your doors — a prosperity in business 
never known in the history of mankind. All men are educated 
by the affairs of the hour, and all men think. You are better 
equipped to govern yourselves than any people in the world. 
Contrast all these comforts with the inconveniences of your 
ancestors, and tell me have we not reason to rejoice at this 
Bi-Centennial of New Milford.-^ 

" In my position as Governor of this State I have kept stead- 
ily in view the general prosperity of all the people, and I 
have always believed in an educated public sentiment as the 
safeguard of law and order in our Commonwealth. I believe 
in the people of Connecticut and in the future of the State ; 
and I believe that the more interest you take in public matters 
the better your government will become. I want to congrat- 
ulate you upon the growth of New Milford, and thank you 
sincerely for the privilege of joining in this triumphant Cele- 
bration." 

Mr. Beach next presented Rev. Watson L. Phillips, D. D., 
saying: 

" At this time it is in my power to speak a word of welcome 
to my comrades of the Foot Guard. They have been connected 
with the history of Connecticut since 1775, when the Company 
marched out to Lexington and Concord. It has not been my 
privilege to be as close to the armory as I should have liked, 
but I am proud to belong to that old organization which has 



Governor's Day 289 

done so much for the honor of Connecticut, and I will simply 
ask the Chaplain of the Company to speak to you more fluently 
than I can." 

Chaplain Phillips delivered an eloquent eulogy of the Foot 
Guard. Among other things, he said: 

" The Second Company of Governor's Foot Guards was 
born in that strenuous time when ideas were crystallizing, 
opinions taking shape, men beginning to realize something of 
the struggle that was before them ; something of the real sig- 
nificance of the Mayflower, of the Colonial forms of govern- 
ment, and of those acts of protest by which the colonies had 
lifted their voices against the usurpations of the mother coun- 
try. In 1775, when the clouds were beginning to gather, when 
men's hearts were beginning to tremble within them for fear, 
this company was born. On the first roster, you will find the 
names of the leading citizens of old New Haven town. The 
first men of the town were its sponsors. Back of them was a 
patriotic and humane purpose, and, having that purpose in 
view, I am able to declare that we are the oldest military 
organization of the sort in the State. 

" The First Company in Hartford antedates us by a few 
months, but the First Company was what its name implies, the 
Governor's Guard. The Second Company came at the call of 
the danger to liberty and its first act was to make response to 
the call of Lexington and Concord. Under the man, then a 
magnificent patriot, Benedict Arnold, the company marched to 
the defense of their endangered brethren in INIassachusetts. 

" And these men, before they left, listened to a sermon by 
Jonathan Edwards, the benediction of which went with them 
throughout their march. They marched to the powder house — 
they asked for ammunition; the selectmen of the town denied 
their request. Arnold drew up his men before the door, and 
said : ' We will give you five minutes to comply with our re- 
quest : If the ammunition is not then forthcoming we will break 
down the doors and help ourselves.' 

" That was the spirit with which they started on their march 
to Cambridge, and that spirit has animated the command 



290 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

through all these years. It has been our privilege to have 
been represented in every war the country has waged from 
1775 to the present day, beginning with the attack upon West 
Haven, to repel which the company marched as a body under 
the command of Captain Hezekiah Sabin. Down through all 
the wars and in the most conspicuous battles, representatives 
of this Governor's Guard have been found, shoulder to shoul- 
der with the patriots of other States and other towns, contend- 
ing for our liberties." 

The next speaker, Hon. Ebenezer J. Hill, was presented as 
one who needs no introduction to New Milford. Congress- 
man Hill said : 

" One year ago I united with some of your citizens in cele- 
brating the fiftieth birthday of New Milford's offspring, the 
town of Bridgewater. 

" To-day I congratulate you that the parent has reached 
the hale and hearty age of two hundred years. 

" While New Milford has had many trials and sore experi- 
ences, the old town shows no wrinkles, or scars, but is fresh and 
blooming and ready to enter upon the third century of its 
career with a courageous heart and unfaltering purpose to 
maintain in the future, as in the past, the splendid character 
of our New England civilization. 

" There is no higher standard in the world than that, for 
it was established in the beginning of our history by men who 
feared none but God. Our fathers built upon the granite hills 
of New England communities and States, which, though small 
in area, have been mighty in influence, molding and shaping 
the destiny of the nation, and through it giving to the whole 
world an example of self-government, based on the sanctity of 
the home, the common school, freedom of religion, and the 
New England town meeting. With these maintained, the pros- 
perity of the future is assured, for, while old age with all its 
weaknesses comes to men with the passing years, the lapse of 
time, if rightly used, should make a community or a nation 
stronger and more enduring. 

" Temporary success may come from many causes, but, in 



Governor's Day 291 

the long run, it is character which counts, not only in the 
individual, but in the nation as well. 

" A few weeks ago I visited the site of old Panama, a city 
on the Isthmus to which it gave its name. It was founded in 
conquest and plunder, a century before the Pilgrims landed at 
Plymouth Rock. A hundred and fifty years later, in conquest 
and plunder, Morgan and his pirate crews swept it from the 
earth ; and now, nothing but an old church and tower, almost 
hidden in the tropical jungle, mark the spot where this once 
flourishing and populous city stood. 

" A few years ago I walked from the ruined palaces of the 
Caesars down the slope of the Palatine Hill into the Roman 
Forum. The way was paved with stones which were put there 
twenty-six hundred years ago by the shepherds and farmers 
as the stones with which their streets were paved, and their de- 
scendants, imitating those virtues, imled the world for a thou- 
sand years. But at last, licentiousness, extravagance, and lust 
from the Alban Hills. Their virtues were as strong and rugged 
for wealth came in and rotted the moral fiber of the Empire, 
until the very men who had sworn to guard the nation sold 
the positions of honor and trust, and even the Empire itself, 
at public auction at the city gates, as cattle and sheep were sold 
in the open market ; and Rome fell from its high estate never 
to rise again. It was a literal exemplification of the proverb 
which was old even then, that ' righteousness exalteth a nation, 
but sin is a reproach to any people.' 

" But why multiply illustrations.'' The history of the world 
is full of them, and, on the other side, none more marked than 
is shown in our own land in the marvelous progress which the 
New South has made since the curse of human slavery was 
lifted from her in the desolation and horror of the Civil War. 

" This town, this State, this nation is just exactly what 
you and I, as individuals, are making it to-day. The past 
is unchangeable, the future is in the hands of God. Only the 
present is ours. We have come in our own experience to times 
of great unrest and discontent with existing conditions. T 
am glad of it. It shows that the world is growing better and 



292 The Bi-Centjenkial Exeecises 

that we are not satisfied to-day with the solution of the prob- 
lems of yesterday, but it does not follow that the new prob- 
lems of to-day are unsolvable. It simply proves that there is 
still room in the world for a large amount of civic righteous- 
ness and that it is for the individual citizen to prove that the 
supply has not been exhausted. 

" There is an old hymn which we sing in our churches, 

" ' We are building, building every day, 
A temple which the world may not see. 
We are building, building every day, 
Building for eternity.' 

So far as the immortal and divine in us is concerned, the 
hymn is all right, but so far as this work-a-day world is 
affected by our actions I would paraphrase it thus, 

" ' We are building, building every day, 
A temple which the world can see. 
We are building, building every day, 
Building for humanity.' 

" A few days ago I read a story in a newspaper of a man 
who advertised that he wanted to buy a horse. In a day or 
two men came with all sorts and kinds, young and old, blind 
and lame and halt. They told him of the splendid records 
of the old hacks, and the great possibilities of the young 
colts, till he finally sent them all away, saying, ' I don't care 
anything about your " has beens " or your " to he's," what I 
want now, is an " is-er." ' 

" The men of New England are the heirs to-day of more 
than two centuries of growth, and progress, and education, 
and we owe it to ourselves and to our children to add some- 
thing in our lives to the sum total of human happiness and 
the public welfare ; for there is a mighty difference between 
always trying to get the better of the community in which 
we live, and giving to the community the best that there is 
in us. 

" From the very beginning of our State, till now, there have 



Governor's Dat 293 

never been lacking men, who, by their strength of character 
and devotion to the public welfare, have made an impress on 
their day and generation, until at length Connecticut is known 
among her sister States as " The Land of Steady Habits." 
I can only refer now to two of them. Colonel Abraham Daven- 
port of Stamford, and Hon. Roger Sherman of New Milford. 
Of the first, Timothy Dwight, in his book entitled ' Travels 
in New England and New York,' tells us that he was a judge 
in Danbury and a member of the Governor's Council in Hart- 
ford, and cites this incident concerning him: 

"'The 19th of May, 1780, was a remarkably dark day. 
Candles were lighted in many houses, the birds were silent and 
disappeared, and the fowls retired to roost. The Legislature 
of Connecticut was then in session at Hartford. A very general 
opinion prevailed that the Day of Judgment was at hand. The 
House of Representatives, being unable to transact their busi- 
ness, adjourned. A proposal to adjourn the Council was under 
consideration. When the opinion of Colonel Davenport was 
asked, he answered, " I am against an adjournment. The day 
of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, 
there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose to be 
found doing my duty, I wish, therefore, that candles may be 
brought." ' " 

" Such a man would be a success at any period of the na- 
tion's history. 

" Of Roger Sherman, for many years a citizen of New Mil- 
ford, time would fail me to properly speak of the long and 
distinguished public services which he rendered, not only to the 
community in which he lived, but to the nation at large. 

" Some years ago, in studying his life and character. I 
collected from the Colonial Records of Connecticut every men- 
tion of his name, and will present the record * to the New 
Milford Gazette for publication; for, of such a citizen. New 
Milford may well be proud. 

" The lives which these men lived, and countless others in 
the early days, should be an inspiration to us all. 

* The chronology here referred to is to be found in Part I. of this volume, 
pages 115-118. 



294 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

" Opportunity does not come alike to all, but these men 
simply did their duty honestly, faithfully, and well ; and all 
of us can do the same to-day, in full confidence that the motto 
of our dear old State — ' Qui transtulit, sustinet ' — has not 
yet lost its meaning or its power." 

After a witty speech by Rev. Marmaduke Hare, who spoke 
as an Englishman who is an American in the making, Mr. 
Beach terminated the exercises with these words : 

" One brief thought in closing. As the sun sinks behind 
the hills of our western horizon to-night, we close the second 
century of the history of New Milford; but let us not linger 
too long in contemplation of the setting sun. Rather, let us 
turn our faces eastward and greet the rising sun, which will 
usher in the third century. Yes, it will be our privilege to 
enter the portals of another century, but certain it is that 
not one present will reach its exit. Let us press forward, 
doing faithfully each duty as it presents itself, placing our 
confidence ' in the God of our fathers, from out whose hand 
the centuries fall like grains of sand.' " 



Tuesday evening was devoted to a magnificent display of 
fireworks in Riverside Park on the west bank of the Housa- 
tonic, and thus, in a blaze of glory, Governor's Day, the last 
of the New Milford Bi-Centennial, came to an end. 



THE AFTERMATH 

The great event is over, and New Milford has excelled all rec- 
ords and exceeded all anticipations. This might sound ego- 
tistical, were it not a fact that it is only the plain truth, and 
corroborated by the speech of everyone who witnessed the 
Celebration. Our town stands higher to-day in public esti- 
mation than it ever stood before. As we look back, it is not 
possible to name an event which should have been omitted or 
a feature which should have been added. A four-days' cele- 
bration has been held, covering every point which such a cele- 
bration should cover ; dignified and formal, where dignity and 
formality were appropriate, informal, happy and homelike 
at all other times. 

A celebration very carefully planned, ably financed, and 
splendidly conducted; with every contingency provided for 
and the most minute details planned in advance. Our towns- 
people have shown that they can accomphsh great enterprises, 
for it is the universal verdict of our guests, especially of those 
who have traveled much and participated in such events, that 
this was a great enterprise, never equaled in some respects, and 
never excelled in the matter of perfect appointment. Our 
townspeople have found, too, that in oratory, music, and litera- 
ture they have men and women of whom any community may 
well be proud. 

Some special points should be noted regarding the celebra- 
tion. Perfect order was maintained throughout; during the 
four days, some sixteen thousand different people have occu- 
pied our streets, but, during all that time, there has been no 
disturbance, no violence or theft, no accident of any kind, and 
a very noticeable absence of drunkenness. That such admir- 
able order prevailed is a great credit to our town and its vis- 
itors, and this community owes a debt of gratitude to the Com- 
mittee of Public Safety and the selectmen of the town. 

295 



296 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

Perfect system prevailed, so that every event occurred on 
time and exactly as planned, with no break or delay at any 
point. This fact appealed very strongly to our official guests, 
who had attended other similar events, and knew that delays 
and unforeseen contingencies almost always arise at such times. 

The decorations, public and private, were beautiful and ap- 
propriate, and brought the warmest commendation from vis- 
itors. 

The literary, religious, and historical exercises were of a 
very high class. Every address and sermon being most ap- 
propriate to the occasion and excellent of its kind. 

The musical programme was splendidly conceived and carried 
out, and high praise is due the committee, the chorus, and, 
especially. Professor Edwin G. Clemence. 

The pleasure and success of the Celebration were very largely 
added to by the presence of Gartland's Tenth Regiment Band 
of Albany during the entire four days. Such splendid band 
and orchestral music was never heard here before. 

The Loan Exhibit was a great success ; admirably managed 
and very greatly admired. 

The spectacular features were beyond any criticism. Both 
parades were perfect in appearance and in management, and 
the fireworks received the highest praise. The Civic and Mili- 
tary Parade was a surprise to everyone; newspaper men and 
guests, who had seen the world's greatest parades, declared 
that the School Division had never been equaled in originality 
and attractiveness. Our prominent visitors stated that, while 
a great city undoubtedly could do as well, no great city ever 
had done as well. 

New Milford has won a high place In the estimation of thou- 
sands, and has gained vastly In civic pride and public spirit; 
may these, and the good feeling engendered by the Celebration, 
last for the next two hundred years. — Nem Milford Gazette. 



The day after the close of the Bi-Centennlal Celebration, 
the President of the Bi-Centennlal Committee received the fol- 
lowing letter : 



The Aftermath 297 

" Executive Department, State of Connecticut, 
" Hartford, June 19. 
" Hon. H. S. Mygatt, New Milford, Conn. 

" My Dear Mr. Mygatt : Upon my return to Hartford, I 
want to say just a few words to you in appreciation of the 
scope of the celebration prepared by you and your fellow 
committeemen on the occasion of the Bi-Centennial of the town 
of New Milford. It was a success in every particular, and re- 
flects great credit upon your community, and upon the men 
who planned and carried it out. 

" For myself, personally, and the members of my staff, let 
me say we enjoyed every minute of our visit, and appreciate 
to the fullest extent the hearty welcome and the unfailing 
courtesy of your people. 

" It was a source of regret to me, and I learned from others 
that it grieved them, too, that you were ill and unable to see 
the fruit of your thought and labor. I hope it will be a 
gratification to you to know that what you wrought was so 
well carried out by those who took up the work and followed 
your plans. You have reason to feel very proud of the whole 
affair, and I trust that you will soon be restored to health and 
strength, and be able to return to your delightful home town. 

" With best wishes, I am sincerely yours, 

" R0L.LIN S. Woodruff." 

The same day, the following letter came to Charles M. Beach : 

" Executive Department, State of Connecticut, 

" Hartford, June 19. 
" Mr. Charles M. Beach, New Milford, Ct. 

" My Dear Mr. Beach : Upon my return to Hartford I 
want to congratulate you and your fellow committeemen, and. 
in fact, the entire town, upon the magnificent celebration of 
New Milford's Bi-Centennial. I wish also to thank you for 
your unfailing courtesy and your thoughtfulncss for the com- 
fort of myself and staff during our delightful stay tliere. 

" I enjoyed it myself very much, and I am proud that Con- 



298 The Bi-Centennial Exercises 

necticut holds New Milford as one of her communities. The 
enterprise of your citizens, and the scope of their celebration, 
is equal to what much larger places might have attempted, but 
few of New Milford's size. We shall remember our visit there 
with much satisfaction. 

" Sincerely yours, 

" RoLLiN S. Woodruff." 

Another letter of similar purport came to H. LeRoy Ran- 
dall (Chairman of the Bi-Centennial Finance Committee) a 
few days later: 

" Danbury, June 22, 1907. 
" H. LeRoy Randall, Esq., New Milford, Conn. 

" My Dear Sir : New Milford has reason to feel proud over 
the success of the Bi-Centennial. The Governor said he had 
the time of his life, and so say we all of us. 

" Yours very truly, 

" J. Moss Ives, 
"Of the Governor's Staff." 



THE FINANCES OF THE CELEBRATION 

The work of the Finance Committee and Treasurer was not 
only of the most vital importance to the success of the Bi-Cen- 
tennial, but was so remarkable in many ways as to deserve a 
chapter to itself. 

When the first estimates of cost were made, about $4000 
was, in round figures, the amount asked for. To many this 
seemed a large sum to raise by subscription, but the Finance 
Committee stated without hesitation that the amount would be 
raised, and more if needed ; and the promise was made good 
by a total subscription of about $5000, secured in an almost 
incredibly short time. This was accomplished without any 
noise or public display, and was the result of careful planning 
and perfect system. The funds were paid out by the Treasurer 
to the several committees, on approval of the Executive Com- 
mittee, and a most accurate and detailed account of all ex- 
penditures was kept by the Treasurer, and may be inspected 
by subscribers at any time. There remained a substantial bal- 
ance on hand after all bills were paid, and while this will prob- 
ably be devoted to publishing the Book of the Bi-Centcnnial, 
the sales of the volume — when published — should return to the 
treasury the amount expended, and more. No appropriation 
was asked for from the town treasury, and the only items of 
expense met by the town were the necessary ones of decorating 
its own buildings and furnishing the police force during the 
Celebration. It is safe to state that no enterprise of this na- 
ture was ever more ably and successfully financed than was the 
New Milford Bi-Centennial of 1907. 



299 



INDEX 



Note. Names given in lists, such as soldiers in the wars, members of 
committees and contributors to the loan exhibit, may be found by ref- 
erence to the pages under " Soldiers," " Committees," " Loan Exhibit," 
etc. 



Adams, John, 16 

Addis, John F., 276 

Addresses 

Charles M. Beach, 283, 285, 288 

Simeon E. Baldwin, 232 

Rev. George S. Bennitt, 171, 208, 

215 
Daniel Davenport, 255 
Charles N. Hall, 137 
Samuel Hart, 228 
Ebenezer J. Hill, 290 
Rev. John T. Huntington, 171 
W. Frank Kinney, 170 
Rev. Timothy J. Lee, 284 
Edwin W. Marsh, 171 
Timothy Dwight Merwin, 171 
Rev. Watson L. Phillips, 288 
Rev. Charles J. Ryder, 202, 208 
Henry C. Sanford, 171 
Frederic W. Williams, 228, 232 
Rollin S. WoodruflF, 286 
Boardman Wright, 171 
Frederick A. Wright, 202 

Adelphi Institute, 92, 112 

Agriculture, 84 

Allen, Ethan, 42 

Andrews, Governor, 76 

Anthony, George W., 87 

Aunty Thatcher, 79 

Automobile Parade, 226 

Averill, J. K., 93, 112 



Baldwin, Albert N., 112 
Ashel, 32 
Hezekiah, 32, 33 
Israel, 32, 33, 104, 107 
Jared, 42 
John, 42, 226 
Jonas, 42 
Jonathan, 98 
Josiah, 33 
Judthon, 40 . 
Simeon, 105, 106, 107 
Simeon E., 232 
Theodore, 42 
Theophilus, 102 



Band, 94, 137, 296 
Banks, 94, 95, 112, 113 
Barnes, Andrew G., 86 
Bartlett, Isaiah, 3, 98 
Barton, Edward, 88 
Bassett, Abigail, 26, 27, 28, 29 

Alice Canfield, 26 

Josiah, 26, 28, 79 
Battles 

Danbury Alarm, 39, 40 

Germantown, 43 

Heights of Abraham, 34 

Kipps Bay, 35 

Monmouth, 42 

Mud Forts, 42 

Princeton, 39, 42 

Saratoga, 42 

Siege of Boston, 35 

Stony Point, 42 

Ticonderoga, 42 

Trenton, 39 

White Plains, 35 
Beach, Charles M., 297, 283, 285, 288 

Rev. Mr., 12 
Beard, Samuel, 100 
Beebe, Samuel, 99 
Beecher, Eleazer, 110 
Beeman, Hannah, 14 
Bennett, Caleb, 104 

James, 33 
Bennitt, Rev. George S., 171, 208, 

215 
Benson, Henrv, 110 
Bentley, Charles P., 139 
Black, Mrs. William D., 9, 90. 93 

William D., 19, 90 
Blaisdell, Rosrer, 36, 38, 39 
Blatchford, Elnathan, 32 
Blizzard, 113 
Board of Trade, 13, 97 
Boardman, Daniel, 4, 8, 9, 14, 101. 
108, 109 

Rev. Daniel, 99, 100 

David S., 20, 111 

Homer, 109 

Rev. Mr., 34 

Sherman, 14, 101. 105, 107 



301 



302 



Index 



Bolles, Joshua A., 93, 94 
Booth, Charles H., 95 

Henry W., 95 

Reuben, 104, 106 
Booth's Assembly Room, 17 
Bostwick, Amos, 41 

Benjamin, 41, 98 

Bushnell, 104, 109 

Daniel, 98 

Ebenezer, 41 

Elisha, 41, 109 

Elijah, 41 

Henry S., 87 

Mrs. Henry, 11 

Isaac, 35, 36, 39, 40, 41, 43, 103 

Israel, 41 

Joel, 41 

John, 98, 99, 101, 102 

John, Jr., 98, 99 

Joseph, 102 

Nathan, 108 

Nathaniel, 101 

Oliver, 41 

Ruben, 32, 106, 107 

Robert, 107 

Samuel, 13, 104 

Solomon, 41 

Solomon E., 113 

Walter B., 87 

Zadock, 32 
Botsford, Nathan, 13 
Bounty for Continental Service, 105 
Breinig, David E., 91 
Bridges, 8, 90, 101, 102, 103, 108, 

109, 110, 111, 112, 113 
Bridgewater, 84, 86, 93, 112, 171 
Bridgewater Society, 86, 93 
Bristol, Mrs. Andrew, 92, 113 

Mrs. Isaac, 226, 227 

Isaac B., 87, 95 
Brooks, Thomas, 103, 107 
Brookfield, 84, 107 
Bronson, John, 32 
Brownson, Benjamin, 105, 106, 107 

Roger, 98 

Samuel, 98, 99, 100 

Thomas, 104 
Buck, Barrall, 32 

David, 33 

Ephraim, 107, 108 
Buckingham, Earl, 94, 112 
Buell, David, 33, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 

43 
Burying Ground, 100, 101, 103, 107 
Buttonmaking, 87, 113 



Cablegram, 173 
Calhoun, George B., 91 
Newell, 97 



Callahan, Francis, 86 
Camp, Abram, 104, 107 

Israel, 107, 108 
Canfield, Alanson, 77 

Amos, 41 

Ezra, 41 

Herman, 108 

Jeremiah, 33, 104, 106 

John, 42 

Joseph, 33, 103 

Josiah, 33, 42 

Moses, 42 

Nathaniel, 42 

Samuel, 16, 34, 42, 101, 102, 104, 
106, 108, 109 
Carr, Mrs. Helen, 15, 16 
Chittenden, Frederick G., 94 

Stephen, Jr., 108 
Church organized, 100 
Church singing, 13 
Churches, 4, 9, 10, 93, 109 

Advent, 12 

Baptist, 108, 110, 111 

Congregational, 10, 12, 102, 111, 
114 

Episcopal, 12, 102, 108, 109, 113 

Methodist, 12, 110 

Methodist Episcopal, 110, 112 

Quaker Meetinghouse, 101, 108 

Roman Catholic, 12, 112 

Union, 110, 114 
Civic and Military Parade, forma- 
tion of, 277 to 283 
Clark, James S., 110 
Clarke, George, 98 

Samuel, 100 

Thomas, 98 
Clemence, Edwin G., 136, 274, 296 
Cogswell, William, 104 
CoUings, David, 32 
Colonial Reception, 275 
Commercial Club, 97, 276 
Committee on Colonial Features, 
128, 134 

Colonial Reception, 123, 130, 134, 
275; Assistants, 275 

On Decoration, 123, 129, 133 

District, 131, 132, 133 

Executive, 123, 128, 130 

On Exercises, 123, 128, 131 

Finance, 123, 128, 130, 299 

General Arrangements, 122, 123 
to 128 

On Historical Research and Per- 
manent Publication, 123, 130, 
133 

Of Inspection and Correspond- 
ence, 104, 105 

Of Inspection on Provisions, 
107 



Index 



303 



Committee — Continued 

Of Invitation, Reception and En- 
tertainment, 123, 129, 133, 170, 
275, 27G 
Loan Exhibit, 123, 130, 134 
Nominating, 122 
On Public Health and Comfort, 

134» 
On Public Safety, 123, 130, 133 
On Publicity, 123, 129, 133 
On Refreshments, 123, 129 
On Religious Observances, 123, 

131, 133 
On Vocal Music, 123, 130, 134 
Comstock, John, 104 

Samuel, 102, 104 
Confederacy, articles of, voted on, 

105 
Couch, Ebenezer, 34, 35, 39, 44, 103, 

105 
Crossing the Delaware, 39 
Curtis, Lewis F., 90 
Cushman's Tavern, 43 

Daton, Daniel, 32 

Daughters of the American Revolu- 
tion, Roger Sherman Chapter, 
114 

Davenport, Daniel, 255 

Dayton, Abraham, 106, 107 
Nathan, 106 

DeForest, Isaac, 106 

Delegates in Congress, 105 

Delevan, Marcus L., 93 

Douglas, Dominie, 32 

Drinkwater, Thomas, 34 
William, 33, 39, 40 

Dunlap, Robert, 226, 227 

Earliest settlers, 3, 4, 98 
Ecclesiastical Society, 16 
Electric light, 90, li4 
Ellis, Rev. Elisha J., 196 
Emmons, Edwin J., 95 
Erwin, Robert, 93 

Silas 95 
Everett, Daniel, 16, 104, 106, 107 

Fairchild, Jesse, 32 
Ferriss, Joseph, 101 

Sarah, 98 

Zachariah, 3, 32, 98, 99 
Fires, 21, 96, 112, 114 
Fire Company, 95, 96, 111 
Fire Department, 276 
Fireworks, 294 
Fisher, Beatrice, 226 

Moses, 32 
Flag, 139 

Pole, 133, 139 



Garlicks, Henry, 89 

Gas, 90 

Gaylord, Benjamin, 104, 105, 107 

Deacon, 42 

Ebenezer, 107 

Homer, 89 

Nathan, 106 

Peter, 89, 109 

William, 99, 100, 101, 102 
Gaylordsville, 84, 89 
Giddings, Franklyn Henry, 93 

Levi P., 3, 8, 90 

Minot S., 7 
Gillett, William, 101 
Grand List, 101 
" Green," The, 11, 18, 19, 21 
Green, General, 40 

Seymour S., 86, 95 

William G., 86, 121 
Griffin, Charles E., 90 
Grist Mill, 88, 89, 90, 100, 106, 109, 

113 
Griswold, John, 100 

Rev. Stanley, 108 
Good Shepard's Lodge, 113 
Gould, WilUam, 32 
Governor's Day, 277 

Hall, Charles N., 137, 173 

David, 32 

Elijah, 85, 89, 109 

Perry, 85 
Hanke, E. W., 87 
Hare, Rev. Marmaduke, 208 

Rev. Samuel, 181 
Hart, Samuel, 228 
Hats manufactured, 86, 110 
Hartwell, Joseph, 107 
Hawlev, Benjamin, 32 

Joseph R., 94 

Nehemiah, 107 
Haves, Abraham, 108 
Heacock, Rev. Stephen, 202 
Highways, 100, 112 
Hill, Albert S., 88, 112 

Merrltt W., 87 

Samuel R., 139 

Samuel R. Jr., 139 
Hine, Abel, 104, 106 

Anan, 110 

Edward S., 226 

Frank, 173 

Henry D., 226, 227 

James, 11, 95, 108 

Noble, 107 

Walter C, 134 
Hinman, Colonel, 33 
Historical Meeting, 228 
Hitchcock, Isaac, 32 

Samuel, 99 



S04 



Index 



Hoar, George F,, 94 

" Home," by Mary Murdoch Mason, 

172 
Hotchkiss, Ebenezer, 104, 105, 106, 

107 
Housa tonic Agricultural Society, 112 
Housatonic Institute, 92, 112 
Hungerford, J. Edwin, 97 
Huntington, Rev. John T., 171 
Indian Deed, 98 

Industries 

Agricultural, 84 

Buttonmaking, 87, 113 

Electric light, 90, 114 

Gas, 90 

Grist Mill, 88, 89, 90, 100, 106, 
109, 113 

Hatmaking, 86, 110 

Iron Works, 89, 102 

Lime Works, 90, 114 

Lounges, 87 

Machinery, 88, 111 

Paper, 88, 112 

Pottery, 91 

Plows, 89, 109 

Saw Mill, 88, 89, 106, 109 

Tobacco, 85 

Wood Finishing, 91, 114 

Wool and Linen, 89 
Ingersoll, Briggs, 108 
Ingleside School, 9, 93 
Iron Works, 89, 102 
Isbell, Robert H., 87 
Ives, J. Moss, 298 

Jacklin, Phil, 80 
Jackson, George H., 97 

Uri, 107 
Jones, Joseph, 32 

Mayor, 15, 16 
Johnson, Rev. Frank A., 137, 195, 
202 

J. R., 93 

Moses, 32 
Jumel Mansion, 36 

Kent, 4 

Kindergarten, 113 

Kinney, W. Frank, 170, 276 

Mrs'. Sara T., 94 
Knapp, Frederick, 131 

Levi S., 108 

Residence, 3, 10 

Lafayette, General, 15, 105 

Lake", H., 226 

Landon, William P., 88 

Lane, Jared, 103 

Law, Jonathan, 99 



Lazarus, Dandy, 79 
Leach, Ray W., 95 
Leavitt, Rufus, 87 
Lee, Rev. Timothy J., 283 
Letter, 173, 297, 298 
Lewis, Thomas, 107 
Lime Works, 90, 114 
Lines, C. W., 226 
Loan Exhibition, 140 

List of Exiubits, 141 to 169 
Lombardy Poplar, 103 
Lonetown, 4 
Long, C. F., 226 
Longevity, 76, 81 to 83 
Lounges manufactured, 87 
Lynes, Joseph, 32 

Machinery, 88, 111 
Mail delivery, 18 
Marsh Chauncey B., 89 

Daniel, 95, ill 

Edwin W., 171 

Egbert, 93 
Mason, Mary Murdoch, 171 
Masonic HaJl, 276 
Masters, Nicholas, 16 

Nicholas S., 108 
McAllister, 94 
McDougall, General, 105 
McMahon, Albert H., 95 

George, 85 
Meetinghouse, first, 10 
Memorial Hall and Library, 9b, 

114 
Memorial Tablet, 114 
Merwin, Samuel, 107 

Samuel, Jr., 106 

Sylvanus, 110 

Timothy Dwight, 171 
Miles, Justus, 88 

Tavern, 88 
Milford Company, 3 
Morgan, 42 

Mosher, Lewis W., 139 
Murphy, J. E., 226 

Robert E., 95 
Mygatt, Andrew B., 95 

Eli, 95 

Henry S., 91, 95, 173, 297 

Roland F., 95 

Neck, The, 84 

Newburv Society, 84, 102, 107 
New Mi'lford Cadets, 139, 276 
New Milford, became a town, 8 

Original extent of, 84 

Owners of, 23, 23 

Plantation, 8, 98 
New Preston Society, 8i 
Newspapers, 9.3, 112, 113 



Index 



305 



Nicholson, Angus, 89 
Noble, Asahel, 106, 107 

Charles H., 95, 96 

David, 100 

George B., 226 

Gilford, 139, 276 

John, 3, 8, 9, 14, 31, 98, 99, 100 

John, Jr., 3, 98 101 

Lyman, 39 

Russell B., 96 

Stephen, 31, 99, 101, 102 

William, 40 

Zadock, 104 

Purchase, 100 
Northrop, Amos, 104, 106 

David, 88 

Jasper A., 88, 111 

Joseph, 102 

Roswell, 88, 111 

Sheldon, 88, 111 

Odd Fellows' Hall, 276 

Old Sugar House Prison, 37 

" Our Forefathers," by Charles N. 

Hall, Iva 
Oviatt, Thomas, 32 
Owners of New Milford, 22, 23 

Palmer, Rev. Solomon, 12, 102 
Paper Mill, 88, 112 
Parade, Automobile, 226 

Civic and Military, 277 to 283 

Marshals, aides for, 184 
" Patent " granted, 98 
Payment for Army Service, 105, 

106, 107, 112, 113 
Payne, Ezekiel, 102 
Peck, Joseph, 98 
Pendleton, Daniel, 40 
Pepper, De Watt, 87 
Peterson, Peter, 226, 227 
Phillips, Chester, 40 

Ruben, 40 

Rev. Watson L., 288 
Plantation of New Milford, 98 
Piatt, Daniel, 20 

Plow Foundry established, 89, 109 
Plumb, Rev. J. F., 202 
Population, 97 
Porter, Edward E., 91 

John, 106 
Pottery, 91 
Power Company, 114 
Prindle, Samuel, 3, 98 
Prudden, Peter, 30 
Public Library and Memorial Hall, 

93, 114 

Quaker Meetinghouse, 101, 108 
Quakers, 12, 109, 108 



Railroad, 111 
Randall, Charles, 9,5 

H. L., 226 

H. LeRoy, 95, 298 
Read, John, 3, 4, 9 

Colonel John, 4 
Redding, 4 
Reed, John, 100 
Reynolds, Isaac, 86 
Richmond, Seeley, 85 
Rivers, 84 
Roads, 110, 111 
Robburds, Mary, 20 
Roberts, Gerardus, 20 

Mar J', 103 

William, 89, 110 
Robertson, James S., 226 
Rochambeau, General, 15 
Roger Sherman Hall, 3, 94, 113 
Rogers, Ambrose S., 92, 112 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 114 
Ruggles, Joseph, 101, 104, 107 

Lazarus, 102 
Ryan, Rev. Joseph, 200 
Ryder, Rev. Charles J., 202, 208 

Sabbath Day House, 4 
Sabbath work fines, 109 
Sabins, Charles, 20 
Sanford, David C, 12 

Glover, 86, 110, 113 

Harry S., 95 

Henry C, 171 

Joseph, 86 

Zachariah, 104 
Sawmill, 88, 89, 106, 109 
Schools, 4, 14, 92, 103. 108 
Schoverling, William, 87, 88 

Mrs. William, 88 
Seelye, Benjamin, 106 
Separatists, 12, 103 
Sermons 

Rev. Elisha J. Ellis, 196 

Rev. Marmaduke Hare, 208 

Rev. Samuel Hare, 181 

Rev. Frank A. Johnson, 175 

Rev. Joseph Ryan, 200 

Rev. Harris K. Smith, 189 

Rev. Orville Van Keuren, 193 

Rev. S. D. Woods, 187 
Settlement, 3 
Silliman, Rev. C, 110 
Singing School, 14 
" Sitting Down " Place, 75 
Shanty Town, 21, 97 
Sherman, Roger, 6, 94, 101, 102, 115 
to 118, 232 

Addresses on, 232 to 255 

William, 94, 102 
Slavery, 20 



806 



Index 



Slaves liberated, 20, 103, 107 
Smith, David, 106 

George, 104, 107 

Rev. H. K., 87, 202 

Joseph, 32 

Perry, 109 

Reuben, 106 
Starr, Eli, 110, 114 

Joseph, 103 

Josiah, 106, 109 

William J., 18, 34, 80 
Staub, Nicholas, 90 

Verton P., 95 
Stebbins, Benoni, 99 
Sterling, Vincent B., 85 
Stilson, Cyrene, 14 
Stoddard, Gideon, 33 
Stone, Benjamin A., 92 

B. J., 112 

Mrs. B. J., 112 

Ithiel, 104, 105, 107 

Lyman B., 86 

Mary A., 92 
Strong, Nehemiah, 108 
Sturges, Everett J., 95 
Social Life, 17 
Societies 

Agricultural, 95 

Daughters of American Revolu- 
tion, 94 

New Milford Washingtonian Tem- 
perance Benevolence, 111 
Soldiers, lists of, 32, 33, 34 

In Civil War, 54 to 66 

In Colonial Wars, 45 to 49 

In Mexican War, 53 

In Revolution, 49 to 53 

In Spanish-American War, 66 

In War of 1812, 53 
Soule, David E., 86 

George T., 226 

Tourney, 88, 95 

Winifred, 94 
South Farm, 100 
Sunday School, 113, 114 

Talcott, John, 4 

Taylor, George, 110, 112 

Rev. Nathaniel, 15, 17, 99, 108 

Rev. Nathaniel, Jr., 15 

Mrs. Nathaniel, 17 

Tamar, 15, 16 

William, 108, 109 
Terrell, Terrill; [see Turrill] 
Thatcher, Partridge, 20, 103, 107 
Thayer, Augustine, 20 
Tithing man, 11 
Tobacco Raising, 85 
Todd, Jonah, 104 
Toll bridge, 111, 112 



Tomlinson, Henry, 3 
Topeka Hall, 75 
Tornado, 108 
Town Court, 97, 114 
"Town Plot," 8 
Township granted, 4, 99 
Train band, 31 
Transportation, 18 
Treat, Gideon, 20 

John, 107 

Joseph, 98 

Robert, 98 
Trott, A. N., 226, 227 
Turrell, [see Turrill] 
Turrill, (Terrell, TerriU, Turrell), 
Ashel, 33, 41 

Caleb, 26, 27, 28, 29, 33, 41 

Daniel, 26, 28 

Ebenezer, 32, 41 

Enoch, 33, 41 

Isaac, 33, 41 

James, 104, 106 

Joel, 41 

John, 33, 36, 39, 40, 41, 43 

John S., 95 

Major, 26 

Nathan, 33, 41 

Stephen, 34, 41, 44 

William, 109 

Zorvia Canfield, 26 

Uiford, Abigail, 30 
" Underground Railroad," 20 
Union Circulating Library estab- 
lished, 108 
Upton Post, G. A. R. organized, 113 

Van Keuren, Rev. Orville, 193 
Village Improvement Society, 18 

Wallis, Benjamin, 32 
Watson, E. M., 226 
Wallace, Mrs., 226 
Wanzer, Nicholas, 108 
Ward, Andrew, 34, 104 
Warner, Colonel, 43 

Elizur, 106, 107 

Henry O., 34, 95, 276 

John, 100, 110 

Lemuel, 107 

Martin, .32, 107 

Oliver, 104 

Reuben, 107, 109 

Samuel, 104, 105 
W^ashington, General, 35, 36, 39, 84, 

105 
Water Company, 95, 113 
Water Witch Engine Company, 113 
Water Witch Hose Conpanr, 276 
Wayne, Anthony, 42 



Index 



307 



Webb, Charles, 35, 103 
Weller, John, 98, 99 

Thomas, 98 
Wells, Edwin S., 88, 112 

Mary C, 92, 113 

Philip, 94, 112 

William W., 88, 112 
Whiting, Captain, 32 

Colonel Nathan, 32, 33 
Whittlesey, George W., 94 
Williams, Frederick W., 228, 232 

Jehiel, 19 



Wilkinson, Jemima, 107 

Wilson, Fred, 79 

Wood finishing, 91, 114 

Woodruff, RoUin S., 275, 276, 277, 

283, 285, 286, 297, 298 
Woods, Rev. S. D., 187, 202 
Wool and linen manufactured, 89 
Wooster, David, 32, 33, 103 
Wright, Boardman, 171 

Frederick, A., 202 

Yates, Paul, 106, 107 



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